Alstom to modernise Egyptian National Railway’s signalling system

Alstom has been awarded a contract worth €100 million by Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to supply signalling equipment for the Beni Suef-Asyut railway line in Egypt. The contract also includes maintenance for five years. Delivery will start in 2016 and the system is due to be operational by January 2019.

The Beni Suef-Asyut regional railway line is 240 km-long. Alstom will provide Smartlock solution – its new Electronic Interlocking System (EIS) – to replace the existing electromechanical one, as well as a trackside equipment, a power supply and a telecommunication system. Alstom’s solution will ensure safety for passengers while increasing the number of trains in circulation on the network by more than 80%.

The project is financed by the World Bank and was launched by Egypt’s Ministry of Transport as part of an initiative to modernise signalling systems all over the ENR network, enhance operation and increase the level of safety to match international standards.

Gian-Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President of Alstom Transport Middle East and Africa declared: “We are pleased to have been awarded this major project which will significantly increase traffic on the line while ensuring higher system availability and greater safety. Alstom has been supporting the country’s railway projects for 30 years, including the Cairo metro and aims to accompany the country for more projects to come”.

A world leader in ERTMS technology, Alstom has secured contracts in 23 countries covering 12,000 km of track, including six of the world’s eleven high-speed lines which have been fitted with the technology and are in full commercial service.