Ashraf AboArafe
“We will have installed double-decker train ,produced locally, by the end of 2018 to confront the increasing congestion of passengers on trains heading to Upper Egypt”, said Egypt’s National Railway Authority.
Alwatan newspaper reported that Egypt’s Semaf Railway Factory will be manufacturing the double-decker trains. This is according to Abdulrahman Husane, head of the SEMAF.
Husane added that officials from the Semaf Factory have recently introduced designs for the new double-decker trains to Egypt’s National Railway Authority. He noted that these designs were a cooperation with Assiut University and Egypt’s Academy Of Scientific Research and Technology.
Abdulrahman further explained that his factory is now working on affording all the necessary raw materials that will be used to manufacture preliminary models for the trains.
Husane said, “The project aims to increase passenger load capacity from 40-60% on the current trains operating in different railway lines. The project is a step to ease the congestion of train vehicles, especially heading to Upper Egypt.”
Putting the manufacturing period into consideration, Husane said that the first train will have been completed by the end of 2018, adding that it will have been tested both in the factory and on the railway lines before its official release.
“The designs of the double-decker trains are 100% Egyptian make, highlighting that final state approval on fixed designs will have been expected by mid-2019.
Abdulrahman asserted that the train cars will be supported by “dynamic ventilation”, a system used inside the trains of the first line of Cairo’s metro. Depending on the operation of modern air-conditioned trains, this would increase the cost of manufacturing.
