Derby: Alstom creates new fleet for Egypt monorail project

Trains created by manufacturing giant Alstom have been test run in Cairo ahead of the launch of a new Egyptian monorail system.

The new trains are part of a £2.3 billion contract for Alstom to construct and run a 61-mile-long monorail network in the Egyptian capital.

In total, 272 Cairo Monorail cars were assembled and tested at the firm’s Litchurch Lane Works site in Derby, with the final car coming off the production lines in January this year.

The British ambassador for Egypt, Gareth Bayley OBE, test ran one of the trains in the country’s New Capital City area and said: “I was impressed by the cutting-edge train carriages that the brilliant Alstom team have produced.”

In August 2019, an Alstom-led consortium involving Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors signed the contract to design, construct, operate and maintain the new Cairo Monorail, which is the “longest driverless train system in the world”.

Alstom said the project is designed to “improve the mobility services for the people of Egypt while reducing traffic congestion and environmental impact”.

The new system will transport up to 45,000 passengers an hour in each direction, connecting both 6th of October City and New Administrative Capital to central Cairo.

Mr Bayley added: “This project is an excellent example of the growing UK-Egypt trade co-operation and highlights the UK’s support for Egypt’s ambitions in providing greener and more sustainable solutions and services to its people.”

The first train was dispatched from the Litchurch Lane site on 14 June 2021, with the last train departing on 16 January 2024.

Leaving Derby by road to Felixstowe in Suffolk, the trains were then shipped to Alexandria in Egypt before being transported to Cairo.

Alstom said the monorail project is the first export of UK-manufactured rolling stock since Derby-built trains were supplied to South Africa for the Gautrain rail system in 2008.

They added the project has supported hundreds of jobs at Alstom and across the UK, which comes after the company warned more than 1,300 jobs were at risk in Derby.