Egyptian National Railways has signed two strategic agreements with the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company, NERIC, covering the manufacture and supply of 500 air-conditioned railway passenger coaches and the establishment of a specialised company to operate the Kom Abu Radi Workshops.
The agreements form part of Egypt’s wider programme to localise transport industries, deepen domestic manufacturing capability and strengthen the national railway supply chain. They also support the ongoing modernisation of Egyptian National Railways’ passenger fleet and the development of local rolling stock production.
The first agreement covers the manufacture and supply of 500 air-conditioned railway passenger coaches. The project is intended to expand and modernise ENR’s passenger fleet, improve service quality and reduce reliance on imported rolling stock by increasing local manufacturing capacity.
The agreement builds on previous contracts between the Ministry of Transport and NERIC aimed at localising railway manufacturing in Egypt. These include the manufacture of 40 metro trains, comprising 320 new air-conditioned metro cars, in partnership with South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem for Greater Cairo Metro Lines 2 and 3, as well as the manufacture and supply of 21 air-conditioned trains for the Alexandria Metro project.
The second agreement covers the establishment of a specialised company to operate the Kom Abu Radi Workshops, which are affiliated with Egyptian National Railways. The company will carry out overhaul, repair and maintenance work on different types of passenger coaches operating across Egypt’s railway network.
The workshop agreement is aimed at improving operational efficiency, increasing fleet readiness and supporting the long-term sustainability of passenger rail services. It also forms part of a broader shift towards involving the private sector in selected railway activities, particularly where specialised management and technical capability can improve service delivery and asset performance.
Kom Abu Radi is expected to become part of a more structured maintenance model for Egypt’s rail fleet, supporting coach availability, reducing downtime and improving the reliability of rolling stock deployed on the national network.
The agreements also reinforce NERIC’s growing role in Egypt’s railway industrialisation strategy. Initially positioned around local rolling stock production, the company’s role is now extending into maintenance, repair, overhaul and efficiency improvement, creating a more integrated domestic railway manufacturing and support ecosystem.
For Egyptian National Railways, the agreements support fleet renewal, maintenance capacity and operational resilience. For Egypt’s transport manufacturing sector, they mark another step towards building local capability across both rolling stock production and lifecycle support.
