Egypt is re-establishing the idea of extending a new railway linking Al-Arish, Taba and East Port Said, and it will help facilitate the transportation of goods.
The Egyptian Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, said in previous statements: “We are in the final touches to develop the Al-Fardan Bridge railway, which used to cross the old Suez Canal, noting that it was cut off after digging the new Suez Canal.”
He added: “We have built the new Al-Fardan Bridge on the new canal, and we have developed the old bridge at a cost of $102 million, which was paid in full before the dollar rose. There is a national Egyptian company currently implementing the Al-Fardan-Al-Qantara-Balouza-East Port Said railway, then Bir Al-Abd, and we will reach Al-Arish in a later stage.”
And he continued: “During the events of January 25, the railways were stolen in the entire region, and in the Abu Tartour region, even Safaga, the entire railway tracks were stolen, which is one of the losses of the January 25 revolution.”
And he continued: “The president directed that what happened be considered similar to the losses of the war, and that we start constructing a new railway. The first stage will be from east Port Said to serve the industrial zone, then we will reach Bir al-Abd, then Arish, and from Arish, there will be a railway line to Rafah, then another line to Taba.” .
Regarding the expected implementation period of the project, the minister said: “We plan to implement it within 5 years, including two years to work in East Port Said and Bir al-Abd, and three years to work in the extension of Al-Arish and Taba.”
He explained, “If we finish this line, it will be more important than linking Al-Tur, because there is a global road currently from Al-Tur to Sharm El-Sheikh, passing through Taba.”
The minister pointed out the importance of establishing a railway line in Sinai, adding: “We want to establish a railway line up to Taba to transport goods to and from neighboring countries.”
He concluded: “We transport one million tons of goods annually from Egypt to Jordan to the Gulf and vice versa. If there was a train going to Taba, it would transport all these goods there, which would save time and effort and help preserve the environment.”
This project will deal a heavy blow to the Israeli high-speed train project to link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean via the port of Eilat.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the ambitious Israeli government project, which was included in the government coalition agreements, would cost about 25 billion shekels. The budget for building the line, which must connect to the train that will pass through other countries, will come from “international agreements.”
The editor of the Hebrew newspaper for transportation affairs, Roy Rubinstein, said that the construction of a line from Beit Shean to Eilat for trains at a speed of 250 km / h will be a very positive step for the Israeli economy and a strong competitor to the projects of neighboring countries.
He pointed out that two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Miri Regev agreed on the planned train route, of which the agreement was signed as part, pointing out that the budget for building the line – about 25 billion shekels – according to the government’s expectations, will come from international agreements and Arab investments. And foreign with several countries due to the linking of the track to the “Peace Train Line”, which will travel from the United Arab Emirates through other countries until reaching Israel.
According to the planning, the “Peace Line” is supposed to enter Israel from Jordan, through the “Allenby Bridge” and from there it will connect the line to the city of “Afula”, where the Israeli Ministry of Transport is working during these days on a preliminary design for the Galilee Railway that will link the settlement of Kiryat Shmona to Afula via Crossing in Tiberias.
The Yedioth Ahronoth report indicated that it is supposed to link the northern Israel railway with its south and extend a line to connect the eastern regions, which is expected to be completed in 2026, and continues down the country to the “Lyd” Bypass railway, which is expected to be ready by the end of this year. general.
Source: agencies
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