The government will select the winning bid to supply the Egyptian National Railways with 1,300 railway cars for around EGP 18 bn next month, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat tells Al Borsa. The ministry is deliberating between offers from a Chinese and a Spanish company, in addition to a Russian-Hungarian and an Indian-Italian consortium. The government will also select a company or consortium to design, finance, supply, operate, and maintain the Alamein-Ain Sokhna high-speed electric train on 30 June, according to Arafat. A joint committee from the transport and housing ministries completed on Thursday its review of the offers for the project, which saw 10 out of 23 companies and consortiums qualify to submit financial and technical offers. Arafat did not disclose details on the consortia, but noted that they include Orascom Construction, Elsewedy Electric, Hassan Allam Sons, SEMAF, and Arab Contractors, alongside firms from Italy, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, and others.