Egypt plans to connect Sudan with high-speed rail link

The Egyptian Minister of Transport, Kamel El Wazir, announced plans for a rail link between Sudan and Egypt in a conference in Marrakech, chaired by the International Union of Railways on Wednesday. The ministry’s proposed Egypt-Sudan railway line will extend the second line of the high-speed train from Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, to Sudan’s Wadi Halfa.

According to Egyptian newspaper El Yom El Sabi, the project is a continuation of the Egyptian government’s efforts to expand sustainable development programmes.

A $2.5 million feasibility study for the 80-kilometre line between the southern Egyptian town and Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan, was funded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, following an agreement reached between Egypt and Kuwait in April last year.

As well as providing a cost-effective means of travel between the two countries, Egypt’s International Co-operation Ministry stated in a press release last year, the rail link would “open opportunities for continued co-operation between Sudan and Egypt”, and potentially improve bilateral trade.