Egyptian National Railways (ENR), Spanish company Talgo, and National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC) have signed on Tuesday a cooperation protocol to study the establishment of an Egyptian factory for manufacturing railway passenger cars. The protocol includes the manufacture of 500 assorted railway passenger cars, including 100 air-conditioned first-class cars, 200 air-conditioned second-class cars, and 200 advanced third-class cars, according to Ministry of Transport's statement. The factory will be established with Talgo global technology, as it will produce 500 cars as first stage out of a total of 1000 railway cars planned to be manufactured locally. This protocol is the second protocol in the field of localizing the mobile unit industry in Egypt after a contract to localise 320 subways with 40 trains, which signed with the Hyundai Rotem and NERIC. The 320 subways aim to localise the metro trains industry to meet the expected increase in the number of passengers in the upcoming years. Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir assured that this protocol considers as an important step in implementing the directives of the political leadership. He added that the cooperation goals to settle heavy industries in Egypt, including the manufacture of mobile units according to the latest methods in line with international standards. In conjunction with the signing of the protocol, ENR and Talgo have signed a contract to manufacture and supply seven new luxury sleeper trains.
