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Egypt outlines future rail project plans

11 April 2025

Egypt is undertaking a transformative expansion of its railway infrastructure, aiming to enhance connectivity, boost economic development and promote sustainable transportation.

According to the official website of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), eight key projects, including metro lines, high-speed rail and light rail transit (LRT), are currently in the study stage.

The first project entails the extension of Cairo Metro Line 1 to Shubra El-Kheima. The project involves extending the metro’s Line 1 from El-Marg north to Shubra El-Kheima, spanning about 19 kilometres (km) with 14 stations.

The second project, Cairo Metro Line 6, is a 34km-long line running parallel to Line 1. It will run north-south through the Greater Cairo neighbourhoods of Shubra El-Kheima and New Maadi, ending at the beginning of Ain El-Sokhna Road, Al-Khosos.

The third project is Line 4 of the high-speed train network extending from Port Said to Abu Qir in Alexandria.

Located in the North Delta region, the network will link Port Said and Abu Qir City in Alexandria. The line will have a total length of about 250km and 14 stations, passing through six governorates: Port Said, Dakahlia, Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh, Beheira and Alexandria.

The line will ultimately connect with the Alexandria metro system, which is under construction. NAT and the French-Egyptian consortium of the local Orascom Construction and Colas Rail signed a €1.3bn ($1.39 bn) contract to build the Alexandria metro system.

The expansion of Cairo Metro Line 4 is part of NAT’s planned comprehensive railway programme.

Cairo Metro’s Line 4 is expected to be built in four phases, with the first phase already under construction. The first phase stretches 19km and has 17 stations, starting from the western ring road and ending in Fustat, Old Cairo. 

NAT is currently studying phases two, three and four of Line 4.

The second phase of the project will extend over 33km and include 22 stations, connecting Fustat, Nasr City and New Cairo.

The third phase aims to connect the Ashgar Gardens and Al-Hosary areas with a rail line that will span over 16km.

The fourth phase will be over 38km long and will connect the Al-Rehab area with the capital’s international airport to the east of Cairo.

The fifth project is phase five of the LRT system that links Cairo to the New Administrative Capital and 10 Ramadan City.

Construction on the first and second phases is complete, while work is progressing on phases three and four of the scheme. According to data from the regional projects tracker MEED Projects, Beijing-headquartered China Railway Group and Avic International are responsible for all the construction work.

The fifth phase of the project extends from the New Administrative Capital, crossing the Cairo-Ain Sokhna Road, to the industrial zone of the New Administrative Capital. It is about 7.8km long and has one station.

The fifth phase of Cairo Metro’s Line 3 comprises the sixth project. It will extend over 7.5km and include five stations to connect Heliopolis with Cairo International airport.

The construction works on Line 3 are largely completed. In April, NAT signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for package 4b of the fourth phase with a consortium led by Vinci, Bouygues, Arab Contractors and Orascom Construction to submit the initial design and the technical and financial presentation of the project.

The seventh project comprises the rehabilitation and maintenance of Cairo Metro’s Line 2. The scope involves modernising 39 Line 2 trains to reduce travel times, accommodate increasing passenger numbers and reduce maintenance costs.

The construction works on Line 2 began in 2010 and were completed in 2023.

The final NAT project comprises a line extending from the end of the second phase of Cairo Metro’s Line 4 at Al-Rehab to Cairo International airport.

It will pass through New Cairo, Madinaty, Shorouk, Badr City and New Heliopolis and end at the New Administrative Capital to connect with the light rail train at the international airport station.

According to MEED Projects, Egypt has been the most active market for the rail sector in the Mena region, with contracts worth over $34bn awarded in the past decade.

Line 6 plan 

In November last year, MEED reported that Egypt is planning to issue the tender for the construction of Cairo Metro Line 6 in 2025. The project will be constructed in two phases, and works will be completed in eight years.

In October last year, Egypt’s Ministry of Transport appointed a joint venture of French engineering consulting firms Egis and Setec as the consultants to study the second phase of Cairo Metro Line 6.

In November 2022, MEED reported that France’s Alstom had signed a framework agreement with NAT to design, build and maintain Cairo Metro Line 6.

This was followed by NAT signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Alstom for Line 6 in March 2022.

At the time of the MoU signing, Alstom was expected to work in consortium with French engineering company Colas and local companies Arab Contractors and Orascom on the project. Construction is expected to require six years to complete.

The project is backed by French funding as part of agreements signed by France’s Finance Minister Brune Le Maire during a trip to Egypt in 2021.

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Yasir Iqbal

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