The winning consortia, led by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and Samcrete, includes the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).

Nine consortia submitted bids for an international tender launched by the Egyptian government, with this narrowed down to two, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.

The second consortium included China State Construction, China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Siemens, French National Railways (SNCF), Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors.

The CEO and managing director of Samcrete, Mr Sherif Nazmy, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the project is considered a second Suez Canal, and will offer a journey time of three hours.  

Nazmy says an agreement is in place to jointly manufacture the coaches for the line at a new factory in Port Said, to facilitate the transfer of technology to Egypt.

For detailed data on high-speed projects from around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro.