The Ministry of Transport and the Spanish train manufacturer, Talgo, are considering establishing a new company to localise the train manufacturing industry in Egypt, and the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC) has recently joined the alliance. Sources close to the matter told Daily News Egypt that a consortium consisting of the Egyptian Ministry of Transport, Talgo and NERIC is about to finalise the establishment of a new company to localise the electric train industry in Egypt. The sources added that NERIC recently joined the alliance and that the new company will establish an integrated factory specialised in train manufacturing, pointing out that NERIC will contribute to manufacturing technology. The Egyptian National Railway (ENR) authority refused to comment on the aforementioned information regarding the stake of the Spanish company, Talgo, for its participation in the localisation of the electric units industry in Egypt. This comes as Talgo has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ENR to provide it with seven sleeper trains, as part of the state's plan to develop the country's railway network. . ENR signed a contract to purchase seven luxury sleeper trains from the Spanish company Talgo last year. The contract includes the implementation of maintenance work for 15 years, including the availability and supply of spare parts and equipment for the trains. Daily News Egypt learned the value of the contract with Talgo, which was estimated at €136m, of which €16m is for maintenance for a period of 15 years, and the rest is the price of new units. The signed contract will be financed through a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction. Egypt's Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir said that cooperation with major international companies specialised in the localisation of the multiple units (MU) train industry makes Egypt the first country to them in the Middle East and Africa. He indicated that it represents the first step in realising the dream of making Egypt one of the major industrial countries in this field. NERIC was established in late 2020 through a partnership between the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the Ministry of Transport, East Port Said Development Companies, Hassan Allam, Samcrete, and Orascom Construction with the aim of manufacturing and modernising train tractors, as part of the state's efforts to localise the railway industry.
