Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel El-Wazir, Egypt’s Minister of Transport, recently conducted an inspection tour of the West Nile Monorail Project to review implementation progress and trial operation timelines. He was accompanied by the Deputy Minister for Electric Traction and Railways, the Chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels, and the Deputy Chairman of the Authority.
The project extends 43.8 km from New October Station to Wadi El-Nile Station and comprises 13 stations, in addition to a Control and Command Centre and a main depot. It is being implemented by a consortium of Alstom and Arab Contractors.
During the inspection, progress across civil works, electromechanical systems, and station finishing works was reviewed, along with timelines for trial operation. The Control and Command Centre at the depot spans approximately 80 feddans (336,000 m²) and includes 13 buildings, with civil works advancing across the facility.
Rolling stock delivery has been completed, with all 30 trains delivered, comprising 120 carriages. Each train consists of four cars, with provision to expand to eight cars.
The monorail is integrated with Cairo Metro Line 3 at Wadi El-Nile Station, the electric high-speed rail line linking Ain Sokhna, Alexandria, and Marsa Matrouh at the Engineers Syndicate Station, and the Upper Egypt railway network at Bashteel. Integration with Metro Line 4 Phase 3 at the October 6 University Station is planned.
The wider East and West Nile monorail network extends to approximately 100 km with 35 stations. Each line has a capacity of 600,000 passengers per day. The system operates on an elevated alignment designed for high-capacity movement in constrained urban corridors.
Commercial utilisation includes advertising on monorail columns and stations as part of a revenue generation model.
The project serves urban expansion areas in 6th of October City and has generated approximately 12,000 direct jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs, with additional employment expected during operation.
