Egypt’s rail authorities said local manufacturer SEMAF will build 210 freight cars for the country’s high-speed electric rail network, while Spain’s Colway plans a $15 million expansion to manufacture train and locomotive components in Egypt, as the government pushes to localize railway production.
The two projects support Egypt’s broader rail investment program, which includes a high-speed network being developed with Siemens Mobility. Siemens has said the network will span about 2,000 kilometers, connect 60 cities, and operate trains at speeds of up to 230 km/h.
Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) said SEMAF will manufacture the 210 freight cars at a total cost of 1.6 billion Egyptian pounds, with 90% local content. A member of NAT’s board said the Railway and Metro Coach Factory, run by the Arab Organization for Industrialization, will produce the cars for the network’s first line.
The source, who spoke to Al Manassa on condition of anonymity, said SEMAF is working with Germany’s Siemens to finalize the cars’ designs, which are due to be delivered to the factory “within days.”
Manufacturing is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year, with all cars completed within two years, the source said. Siemens will provide 15 locomotives dedicated to hauling the locally manufactured freight cars, while SEMAF is coordinating with the German company on communications and operating systems for both passenger and freight rolling stock.
SEMAF also plans to sign a cooperation agreement with Siemens to support manufacturing and technology transfer, particularly to ensure compatibility between traction systems and the freight cars.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly toured development work at the SEMAF factory and said the upgrade supports efforts to localize transport manufacturing, boost exports, and reduce pressure on foreign currency.
The NAT board member said localizing freight-car manufacturing has saved NAT about 2 billion pounds compared with importing from abroad, and that SEMAF is expected to play a key role in manufacturing trains for the network’s second line.
Separately, a board member at Egyptian National Railways (ENR) told Al Manassa that Colway plans to establish a second production line in Egypt to manufacture train and locomotive components, with investments estimated at about $15 million, to meet ENR needs for locomotive components.
The source, who requested anonymity, said Colway has applied for a 10,000-square-meter plot to build the new facility, expanding a project launched in phases at ENR’s Kom Abu Radi workshops in Beni Suef on an area of 3,000 square meters.
In March, the government said Transport and Industry Minister Kamel Al-Wazir inspected the company’s first output of sleeping-car components, and said it supports state priorities to localize railway industries and reduce reliance on imports.
The source said ENR is reviewing sites that meet the required area, and is considering cutting the land usufruct fee or allocating the plot at no cost, following Al-Wazir’s directives to support localization plans. They said it was unlikely the land would be granted entirely for free, and that a low price was more likely, citing legal reviews tied to state-owned railway assets and the need for Cabinet approval at a later stage.
The source linked the incentives push to wider economic pressures, including trade deficit strains and higher petroleum imports to cover an energy shortfall, adding that the trade balance recorded a $14.6 billion deficit in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025-2026.
The Colway expansion could take up to 18 months to implement, depending on the company’s ability to contract equipment from abroad, bring it into the local market, and complete trial operations, they added.
The first line of the high-speed network is set to operate 15 high-speed trains, 34 regional trains, and 15 freight trains on a route running from Ain Sokhna to New Alamein and then to Matrouh governorate, spanning 675 kilometers and including 22 stations.
In 2021, the Transport Ministry signed two loan agreements totaling 2.26 billion euros from 18 international institutions, as well as a third loan worth 318 million euros from the Islamic Development Bank in January of last year, to finance rolling stock, communications systems, and electromechanical works for the network’s first line.
