Egypt’s Minister of Transportation Kamel El-Wazir said the government is building a 6,000-kilometre railway line to connect Upper Egypt with Sudan. The railway line will start at Abu Simbel in southern Egypt and continue to Abu Hamad in Sudan, reported Middle East Monitor.
“The 600-kilometer railway from Abu Simbel in Egypt’s south will link Aswan with the Sudanese town of Abu Hamad and also aims to transfer raw material from Africa to Egypt,” the Egyptian minister said in a press statement.
The project was proposed by an Egypt-Sudan cooperation committee jointly chaired by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and former Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.
The railway connection will facilitate the movement of goods and people between the two countries. The line’s construction will take 36 months and a transitional station will be established in the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa in the northern part.
When Sudan was undergoing protests against Al-Bashir earlier this year, Al-Sisi consistently supported his regime, saying that Sudanese stability was an integral part of Egyptian national security.
Bashir was toppled by the army in April in the face of months-long protests against his rule. Al-Bashir is currently being kept in a prison in Khartoum, facing trial on corruption charges. He ruled Sudan for three decades after seizing power in a coup in 1989.
In September, the Egyptian President met with Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Cairo and assured that Egypt supports Sudan’s security and stability, and the Sudanese people’s choices.
“Egypt is keen to make sure that Sudan returns to its normal role on the regional, Arab and African levels,” said Sisi.
He ensured continuous cooperation and coordination with Sudan in several issues of mutual concern, including the electricity grid connection and the railway connection to increase bilateral trade.
