Colas Rail, in consortium with Orascom Construction, has secured a contract from Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) to build the new metro in Alexandria, Egypt. The total contract value amounts to €1.3 billion, of which €320 million for Colas Rail.

The new metro system will link the center of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, to the town of Aboukir, to the north-east. Spanning a total of 22 km, it will serve 20 stations, a vital step in modernizing the region's railway network by providing safer, more reliable transport infrastructure. As part of the European Bank's Green City Program, the project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Alexandria, a city with a population of 5 million.

Colas Rail, in partnership with Orascom Construction, will be responsible for the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the track, power supply, signaling, telecommunications, depot equipment and integration of all rail systems.

The construction for Colas Rail’s scope of this new metro will employ more than 1,000 people at peak. Work is scheduled to start in 2024 and will take thirty months to complete.

After more than 40 years in Egypt, this new contract confirms Colas Rail's position as a leader in complex projects in the country, as evidenced by the construction of Cairo metro lines 1, 2, 3 and 4 for NAT alongside Orascom Construction.

"Colas Rail is very proud to have been chosen once again by NAT, alongside its long-standing partner Orascom Construction, for its skills as a system integrator at the service of the Egyptian people and the magnificent city of Alexandria." Hervé Le Joliff, Chairman of Colas Rail.