Egypt’s Orascom Construction Company announced on Sunday that its consortium with the Paris-based Thales Group has won a contract to railway modernisation in Egypt.

In a disclosure statement on Egypt’s bourse, the Company said the consortium has signed the contract with Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to modernise and upgrade the Cairo-Beni Suef railway corridor.

The consortium will modernize the signalling system and tracks across approximately 125km (75miles) in addition to the complete modernisation of electronic interlocking system at the stations, the statement said.

“These upgrades will result in increased speeds while enhancing safety and efficiency” it said, adding that the total contract value is around 340 million euros ($367 million).

The statement said the project is part of a programme that is funded by the World Bank and that it extends the long-term relationship between Orascom Construction and Thales, which includes projects such as Greater Cairo Metro and future projects.

According to the statement, Orascom’s current and past schemes include major projects such as high-speed rail, metro, monorail, railway, and light rail transit across over 3,500km in Egypt and the Middle East.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)