Thales, Orascom Construction and Colas Rail have landed a contract for construction work on the first phase of Cairo’s fourth metro line, Thales said in a statement last week.

The contract is worth some USD 659 mn, with USD 159 mn of that for Colas, the company said in a separate April statement (pdf).

About Cairo Metro Line 4: The first, 19-km phase of the line will connect Cairo, Giza and Sixth of October City. It will feature 16 stations, and provide access to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Giza Pyramids. It is expected to take six years to complete. The second, 23.5-km phase, will connect to New Cairo.

Who’s doing what: Colas will be responsible for overseeing the project as well as installing the power supply and assisting with building the track and signaling. Orascom will handle the civil engineering works and build the control center, while Thales will supply and install the comms, control and ticketing systems.

Financing: The project is being financed by a JPY loan provided by the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA).

It isn’t clear exactly what Mitsubishi’s role is now: Mitsubishi and Orascom signed an initial USD 800 mn contract (pdf) in October 2020 to carry out most of the works, including the signaling, power supply, comms, ticketing, track work and the depot. Under the agreement, the Japanese conglomerate will supply equipment for the railway systems. Mitsubishi will also supply 23 trains for the line under a EGP 5.8 bn contract.

Other parties: A consortium of Hassan Allam Construction, Arab Contractors, Petrojet, and Concord are building (pdf) 12 of the stations along the line.

ELSEWHERE ON THE METRO –

Alstom will submit its bid for Cairo Metro Line 6 by the end of July, Andrew DeLeone, president of Alstom for Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, said at a meeting with International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat. (Statement). An Alstom-led French consortium is set to work on systems, tracks, and the manufacture and supply of “mobile units” for the new line.