The Egyptian National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has contracted a consortium comprised of Colas Rail (leader), Orascom Construction and Hitachi Rail to renovate line 1 of the Cairo metro.
NAT is investing over 800 million EUR in this contract to renovate the underground system. This will be split between the three companies with Colas Rail and Orascom Construction each receiving 35 percent and Hitachi Rail receiving 29 percent.
Line 1 of the Cairo metro is the oldest in Egypt and is central to the capital’s urban transport system. It currently carries more than 1.5 million people each day.
To meet rising mobility demands, authorities have now decided to further increase its transport capacity.
“We are proud to have supported the National Authority for Tunnels over more than 40 years in the construction of reliable, low-carbon urban mobility infrastructure in Cairo and Alexandria. The modernisation of line 1, which Colas Rail helped to build in the 1980s, represents a new challenge. Over the next few years, many of the world's major cities will have to modernise their underground railway lines to keep pace with the growing demand for mobility among the population. Colas Rail will be there to support its customers and boost the regional economy.”
Under this contract, Colas Rail will work with Orascom to modernise the electric power supply, catenary and electromechanical systems in stations, tunnels and on the rail track.
Meanwhile, Hitachi Rail will modernise the signalling, control and telecommunications infrastructures.
This work will be completed during the day while maintaining commercial operations on the line. The project is expected to start in October 2024 and will run for 64 months.
“Our consortium is delivering a truly innovative project to update Egypt’s oldest metro line while maintaining day to day commercial operations. Building on more than 40 years supporting the Cairo metro, we will deliver our modern, digital technology, enhancing signalling, control and telecommunication infrastructure on line 1. Our solution will enable greater safety, reliability and capacity on the line and deliver more seamless and sustainable journeys for passengers in Cairo.”
