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By Amira El-Fekki
Middle East News Reporter
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Egypt is building a roughly 600-kilometer long high-speed rail line linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean called the Green Line, under a $4.5 billion contract with a consortium including German firm Siemens. Workers are laying the railway tracks in the desert east of Cairo, according to AFP.
Why It Matters
The Green Line is part of a roughly 2,000-kilometer long high-speed railway network designed to connect seaports, industrial and agricultural zones, logistics hubs, and new urban communities across the country, while aiming to reduce travel times, cut carbon dioxide emissions, and support sustainable economic growth, authorities say.
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What To Know
The revamped rail network is expected to carry about 15 million tonnes of cargo per year, equivalent to roughly 3 percent of last year’s Suez Canal transit volume, Tarek Goueili, head of Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels told AFP Tuesday.
Like the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, the rail line links by land Egypt’s Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna with the Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh. This line will be the backbone of the network, combining high-speed passenger services, regional trains, and cargo trains, according to Egyptian state media Al-Ahram.
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The line starts on the Red Sea coast south of Suez and runs westward across the desert toward Alexandria on the Mediterranean, forming a direct Red Sea–Mediterranean corridor, meant to complement the Suez Canal corridor, not replace or pass through it.
The Suez Canal generates crucial revenue for Egypt, handling about 12 percent of global shipping. Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie said in October that Suez Canal revenues are expected to reach $4.2 billion by the end of this year, compared to $3.9 billion last year, as the canal makes a gradual return to regular maritime trade operations after years of disruptions caused by conflict in the Red Sea.
Siemens Mobility is supplying Egypt’s high-speed rail network with the Desiro High‑Capacity (HC) passenger train, which recently completed its first test run on newly built tracks near west of Cairo.
"Its commissioning is planned for the Green Line - a 660 km network connecting Cairo to Ain Sokhna, Alexandria, and Marsa Matrouh, often referred to as the 'Suez Canal on Rails,'" a Siemens press release stated in November.
In 2021, Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels signed the contract with Siemens for a high-speed and electrified main rail line linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea, while also connecting Cairo to the New Administrative Capital megaproject, CNN reported at the time.
What People Are Saying
Siemens CEO Roland Busch said on November 10: "Together with our partners, we are proud to help build Egypt’s new high-speed rail network—soon the sixth largest in the world—connecting millions of Egyptian people across the country, and transforming mobility for generations to come."
What Happens Next
Egypt hopes to complete the high-speed rail link in 2027 or 2028. Besides the Green Line, two more lines will follow: the Blue Line along the Nile from Cairo to Aswan, and the Red Line linking Hurghada and Safaga to Luxor.
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