President of the Federal Republic of Germany on a historic visit to the capital station of the high-speed electric train network project 12/09/2024 | 07:22 PM
His Excellency President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, paid a historic visit to the first line project of the high-speed electric train network (Sokhna/El Alamein/Matrouh), where he visited the capital station in the first line project. He was received by Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport, Mr. Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, and leaders of the Ministry of Transport and the National Authority for Tunnels. At the beginning of the visit, Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, welcomed His Excellency the German President at the Capital Station, one of the stations of the first line of the high-speed electric train, which consists of 21 stations and is considered one of three lines currently being implemented that make up the high-speed electric train network with a total length of 2,000 kilometers, pointing out that the Egyptian high-speed electric train network is one of the largest projects implemented by the international company Siemens, which enjoys a global reputation in this field, pointing out that the first line of the high-speed electric train starts from Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh, passing through the New Administrative Capital, Cairo, 6th of October, Burj Al Arab, El Alamein and Marsa Matrouh, and that this network is of great importance in transporting passengers and goods and reducing carbon emissions, and that in parallel, ten thousand kilometers of railways are being developed, some of which are being cooperated with German companies, such as cooperation with the German company Siemens in developing and modernizing signaling systems on the Banha/Ismailia/Port Said line, adding that the network is also of great importance in linking production and manufacturing areas with seaports and serving tourism movement, as the second line of The network starts from the Pyramids area in Giza to the Abu Simbel area in Aswan, passing through the most important tourist areas in Egypt, as well as the third line of the network linking the most important tourist destination on the Red Sea, which is Hurghada, with the most important tourist destination on the banks of the Nile, which is the city of Luxor. Pointing out that this project is not the only one implemented by German companies, there is great cooperation with the German company Herrenknecht, which supplies all the drilling machines for the subway, in addition to supplying all the drilling machines for the Suez Canal tunnels. There is great cooperation with this giant company in training Egyptian engineers. There is also cooperation with Eurojet Jet and Hapag-Lloyd in managing and operating the Tahya Misr Container Terminal in Damietta Port, which is 18 meters deep, and this station in Damietta Port will be a center for launching German exports to all countries of the Middle East and Africa. He pointed out that there are ongoing negotiations with German railways regarding cooperation in managing and operating the high-speed electric train network. Then the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport thanked the German President and the government. The German people and German companies are participating in development in Egypt, stressing the aspiration for more cooperation between the two sides to achieve comprehensive development and serve the Egyptian people. The German President and the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport also listened to a presentation on the high-speed electric train network being implemented by the (German Siemens - Orascom - Arab Contractors) alliance with a total length of 2000 km, which includes three lines: (the first line Sokhna / El Alamein / Matrouh, the second line / 6 October / Luxor / Aswan / Abu Simbel with a length of 1100 km, and the third line Qena - Hurghada - Safaga with a length of 175 km in addition to 65 km for workshop entrances and connections to dry ports and storage rails. The total number of stations on the three lines is 60 stations with a total number of 2 main workshops and 6 light overhaul workshops. The number of high-speed trains on the three lines is 41 trains and the number of regional trains is 94 trains. The number of freight locomotives that will operate on the three lines is 41 locomotives. The project of the first line of the network (Sokhna - El Alamein - Matrouh) was also reviewed, whose path extends from Sokhna to October Gardens, then branches south to Al-Ayat. North to Alexandria, El Alamein and Marsa Matrouh with a length of about 660 km and includes 21 stations (13 high-speed train stations and 8 regional stations) in addition to 1 control and command center, and this line is part of the Sokhna/Dekheila logistics corridor.
Then, the German President, the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, the Minister of Industry and Transport and the attendees watched a film on the progress of the implementation rates of the first line of the high-speed electric train network from Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh, whether in terms of the progress of the finishing works of the stations or the train bridge and the implementation of basalt laying works and the installation of rails and electric catenary poles in preparation for the implementation of electromechanical works in addition to the progress of industrial works of bridges, tunnels and estuaries
Then the station was inspected, which is an interchange station with the LRT and is considered a center for various means of transportation coming to the administrative capital and serves mainly the new administrative capital and the sports city as well as all the new cities in eastern Cairo, and it is one of the largest stations in the Middle East, with an area of more than 300 acres with parking areas and commercial areas. The platforms were inspected and the passenger traffic plan was reviewed from the main entrance to the station until reaching the ticket halls and moving between the platforms, as well as the plan for the optimal administrative and investment exploitation of all spaces in the station.
After that, the German President, the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, the Minister of Industry and Transport, and the attendees headed to the train maintenance point, which is located on an area of 50 acres and can accommodate 10 trains, where they inspected the first Desiro train, which was manufactured in the German Siemens factories and supplied to Egypt several months ago, as well as the timetable for manufacturing and supplying the moving units for the first line of the network, where the manufacturing of three express trains (Velaro) has been completely completed, and two other trains are being manufactured out of a total of 15 express trains designated for the line. The manufacturing of five regional trains (Desiro) has been completed, one of which was shipped to Cairo, and seven other trains are being manufactured out of a total of 34 regional trains designated for the line, in addition to the completion of the manufacturing of two electric freight locomotives out of a total of 14 freight locomotives. In press statements on the sidelines of the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport stressed that this project is a symbol of Egyptian-German friendship and embodies the strong relations between the political leadership in the two countries and the two friendly peoples, noting that all construction work on the project and system work at the stations are being implemented by specialized national Egyptian companies, and the systems and mobile units are being implemented by the German company Siemens, adding that the implementation of the high-speed electric train network comes within the framework of implementing the directives of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, to expand the establishment of a network of green, sustainable, environmentally friendly mass transportation that keeps pace with the technological boom witnessed by the transportation sector globally, noting that .
The Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development, Minister of Industry and Transport, explained that the implementation of the high-speed electric train network embodies a great epic being implemented on land, and that by implementing the first line of the network, the connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea by land will be achieved to serve as a new Suez Canal on rails, noting that this network will cover all parts of the Republic, in addition to being development arteries, as it will serve new and existing urban and industrial areas, such as the industrial areas in (Helwan, 15th of May, Borg El Arab, 6th of October, New Minya, New Assiut and other industrial areas), as well as serving tourist areas (cultural, historical, religious and coastal) in Egypt, such as serving tourist areas in Giza, Sohag, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Red Sea) and other tourist places in Egypt and serving new agricultural areas, whether in the New Delta, Mostaqbal Misr, Janat Misr, West Minya, Toshka and East El Oweinat, as well as contributing to creating logistical hubs linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, the north and south of the country, and linking industrial areas (production areas) to seaports (export centers), as well as linking modern agricultural development areas (New Delta - West Minya - Toshka - Egypt's Future - ... ) with consumption areas and export ports.
In addition to linking tourist areas (diving tourism and beaches in the Red Sea - cultural tourism in each of the Giza Pyramids) which allows for the diversity of tourism programs in a single tourist trip, this network will also contribute to achieving integration with airports, seaports and land routes to achieve the concept of multi-modal transportation and linking seaports, dry ports and logistics centers and serving the freight transport system between ports as well as serving the goals of sustainable urban development and creating new development axes and reducing environmental pollution. The three lines of the high-speed electric train network also provide thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities as well as serving the movement of passengers and goods and contributing to the revitalization of industry and internal and external trade and revitalizing tourism of all kinds as it passes through many coastal cities on the Red and Mediterranean Seas and many cultural and religious sites. It will also serve the world of businessmen and investment as it passes through the administrative capita