Egyptian National Railways (ENR) and the French Development Agency (AFD) signed an implementation financing agreement for the upgrade of the Tanta – El Mansoura – Damietta rail line project with a total loan amount of 95 million euros.

The project is co-financed with the European Investment Bank (EIB), EIB will also be giving the Egyptian National Railways a 221 million euros loan.

“This operation confirms our commitment to playing a leading role in supporting the development of Egypt’s transportation sector. To date, the total loan amount allocated by AFD to urban transport exceeds EUR 700 Million, with a direct contribution to major infrastructure projects such as Cairo Metro line 3, Cairo Metro Line 1 rehabilitation, the Abu Qir Metro, and the Alexandria Raml Tram. Building on this first cooperation in the rail sector, we look forward to working with ENR on other flagship projects in the future,” Clémence Vidal De La Blache, AFD Country Director for Egypt, stated.

The rail line project involves doubling the track between El Mansoura and Damietta over 64 km and upgrading the signaling from Tanta to Damietta for a total distance of 119 km. The signaling upgrade includes the installation of signal lights, electronic interlocking, a centralized control center, and an automatic train protection system.

Earlier this year, World Bank approved a $400 million development financing agreement to improve the performance of the logistics and transportation sectors in Egypt and to support the shift towards low-carbon transportation along the Greater Cairo Area (GCA) railway corridor.