Thales continues its commitment to Egypt National Railways and delivers three key stations Tanta, Al Ousayrat and Sedfa
As part of the ambitious plan to transform Egypt's railway infrastructure driven by the country's Ministry of Transport, Thales has once again delivered on its commitment by delivering the new key stations, Tanta, Sedfa and Al Ousayrat.
- The transformation implemented by Thales means a significant increase in the availability and reliability of the means of transport, as well as greater speed and frequency of its trains, which induces greater profitability of the railway network.
- The speed and track capacity will increase of up to 40%. Specifically, the speed of trains will increase from 140 to 160 km/h.
- The relationship between ENR and Thales began in 2013 with the contract for the modernisation of the line connecting Alexandria to Cairo; and continued in 2017 with the section between Asyut and Nagh Hammadi.
The latter two are located on the line linking the towns of Asyut and Nagh Hammadi. Tanta is on the Cairo-Alexandria line.
All these stations are part of the rail corridor from Alexandria to Aswan via Cairo.
The delivery of Tanta station, one of the largest stations in Egypt, means the entry into operation of a continuous section of approximately 195 km, with only the ends of the line remaining to be delivered: Alexandria station in the north (on the Quesna-Alexandria section), and Farz Waborat and Cairo North in the south (on the Cairo-Benha section), the total length of the line being 207 km. This entry into service will have a major impact on the country's rail transport network; Thales has equipped Tanta with one main technical building and one secondary technical building (to cover the 18 kilometres controlled by this station), 132 signals, 124 switch motors, 267 track circuits and eight level crossings, which gives an idea of the complexity of this entry into service.
In the specific case of Al Ousayrat, in addition to the signalling and telecommunications systems, the delivery includes a new technical building, three level crossings and 10 km of track in addition to the 63 km of track already in operation on the line to date. The Sedfa station, on the other hand, involves the commissioning of 11 additional kilometres, a technical building, 44 signals, 74 track circuits and two level crossings, among others.
“We are very pleased to deliver three new stations to ENR. It is a source of pride for the entire Thales team who have been working for years on the modernisation of this line” - Fernando Ortega, Thales Spain Transport Director
The aim of this ambitious project, of which Thales is part, is to modernise the signalling and telecommunications systems of the Egyptian National Railways (ENR), the second largest railway operator in Africa. The existing mechanical signalling systems are being replaced by Thales' electronic interlocking system (EIS) on three of the most important lines of the Egyptian railway network, the second oldest in the world after the British.
Increased availability and reliability, speed and cost-effectiveness
This will result in a significant increase in passenger and freight reliability, as well as an increase in speed and track capacity of up to 40%. Specifically, the speed of trains will increase from 140 to 160 km/h. Similarly, reduced maintenance costs will have an impact on the life-cycle cost of the systems.
Thales and ENR: almost 10 years of fruitful partnership
The relationship between ENR (Egyptian National Railways) and Thales began in 2013 with the contract for the modernisation of the line connecting Alexandria to Cairo. Later, in 2017, the Egyptian company once again placed its trust in Thales by awarding it a contract for the installation of state-of-the-art electronic interlockings on the 180 km stretch between the cities of Asyut and Nagh Hammadi.
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