Egypt's Ministry of Transport announced on Monday that it has awarded two contracts to execute the first phase of the Cairo Metro Line 4 project.

The ministry said in a statement issued in Arabic that it had awarded contracts for the execution of the civil works package (CP401) for the western part of Phase 1 and the railway systems, track and depot works package (CP411) for the entire Phase 1 to two consortiums respectively.

The two packages remaining to be awarded are the civil works for the eastern part and the rolling stock supply.

Phase 1 will stretch across 19 kilometres and 16 stations, connecting the centre of Greater Cairo to the pyramids area in Giza.

Meanwhile, Orascom Construction announced on Tuesday that its consortium with Mitsubishi Corporation had signed an $800 million turnkey contract with the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) to execute the CP411 package. The work scope includes signalling, power supply, telecommunication, platform screen door, automatic fare collection, track work, and the depot/workshop. Orascom Construction's share of the contract exceeds $350 million.

Hassan Allam Holding said on Monday that its subsidiary Hassan Allam Construction's consortium with Arab Contractors, Petrojet, and Concord had secured a contract from NAT for construction works as part of the first phase. The scope of work [for CP401] includes the construction of 12 metro stations, 11 of them underground, from Hadaek Al Ashgar in the 6th of October City to El Mesaha station on Al-Haram Street, stretching across 13.7 kilometres.

The statement said after the completion of Phase 1, the new line would be able to accommodate 258 trains in each direction, with the number growing to 492 by 2050 upon the completion of Phase 2.

The project will be financed by a Japanese Yen Credit Loan provided by the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) under the condition of the Special Technical Economic Partnership (STEP), which is the first time to be implemented in Egypt, according to the Orascom statement.

In June 2014, Amwal Alghad newspaper, quoting a NAT official, said JICA would contribute $1.2 billion to the project, while the Egyptian government will provide $2.4 billion. In March 2012, JICA announced a 32.7-billion yen ($313 million) loan to finance Phase1.

Cairo Metro Line 4 is expected to be the main metro line for tourism transportation in Egypt, arriving up to the pyramids area and the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is under construction by Orascom Construction and BESIX.

(Writing by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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