Alstom has celebrated the start of commercial service on the initial portion of Africa’s first monorail system – a service which utilises a number of rolling stock manufactured by the company at its Litchurch Lane site in Derby.
Utilising Alstom’s Innovia monorail system, The East of Nile line aims to connect East Cairo to the New Administrative Capital, reducing travel time and improving connectivity between key residential, business and administrative districts.
Alstom supplied its Innovia monorail system for the project
© Alstom
Thus far, a total of 16 of the 22 stations along the 56 kilometre line have begun operation and are serving customers commercially.
With a capacity of up to 45,000 passengers per hour per direction; the Innovia monorail system has been designed to ease urban congestion and provide a response to the city’s rapid expansion.
Assessments demonstrate that the monorail is capable of reducing journey times between El Moshir Tantawi station (ST07) and Justice city station (ST22) from around 1 hour 20 minutes by road to approximately 40 minutes – almost halving travel time.
Martin Vaujour, President for Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, Alstom, said:
Cairo is home to nearly 25 million people, making it one of Africa’s largest and fastest growing megacities.
The Innovia monorail system is a true game changer not only for Egypt, but for the wider African continent, delivering immediate capacity at scale while supporting a more sustainable future for urban transport.
The project aims to set new benchmarks for the rail sector by way of advanced technologies that redefine system intelligence, operational resilience and long-term preference. The East of Nile line operates with fully autonomous CBTC GoA4 signalling, and is the first project of its kind in Africa to integrate platform screen doors.
Alstom’s provision of rolling stock for the project marks the first time a British factory has exported rolling stock since 2008, when Derby last put trains on a ship destined for the Gautrain rail network in South Africa’s Gauteng province.
The trains form part of a 2.3 billion GBP contract to construct and operate Egypt’s new monorail network, which has been backed by UK Export Finance – forming one of the credit agency’s largest amounts of overseas infrastructure financing in its history.
Whilst all rolling stock was manufactured at Alstom’s production site in Derby, UK, testing and commissioning was carried out by local engineering capabilities.
Ramy Salah El Din, Managing Director of Alstom Egypt, said:
The East of Nile Monorail marks a major milestone in Egypt’s Vision 2030 journey toward smart, sustainable, and future ready urban mobility.
With more than 98% of the workforce drawn from Egypt, this project showcases national engineering excellence and deep local know-how. Beyond transforming transportation, the monorail stands as a powerful symbol of local capabilities driving the delivery of world class, transformative infrastructure for the nation.