French train manufacturer Alstom will manufacture and supply 55 new trains for Cairo Metro Line 1 under a contract approved by ministers last week, the cabinet said in a statement following its weekly meeting. The company will also carry out maintenance work and supply spare parts for eight years, the statement said. The contract is part of the larger rehabilitation program for Cairo’s oldest underground line. Alstom is also currently working on the manufacture of monorail trains for Egypt’s first monorail project.

Egypt received six of the 22 trains that will be used on the light rail, which will link Salam City and Tenth of Ramadan City via the new capital, the Transport Ministry said last week. The line is being built by CREC-AVIC International Consortium working alongside Egyptian firms including our friends at Orascom Construction.

The first phase of the line was supposed to be inaugurated at the end of this month. The first stretch of the line will connect Adly Mansour station to the new capital and is supposed to open for a three-month trial.

Other things we’re keeping an eye on this morning:

• Egypt’s agricultural exports hit a record 5 mn tons this year, up from 4.4 mn tons last year, with citrus, potatoes and beets topping the list in terms of volume.
• The New Urban Communities Authority has allocated 37 plots of land in 18 new cities for integrated urban projects, factories, schools, and medical, commercial and administrative activities.
• Indian EPC and turnkey project management company Nuberg will build a 50 tpd sulphuric acid plant in Gamasa City after being awarded the project by Egypt’s International Company for Chemical Industry.