Egypt-Sudan Railway

Objective

The objective is to boost bilateral trade and logistics, direct passenger transport and pave the way for more pan-African trade. Long-term goals include standardizing track specs to allow non-stop passenger and freight transit from cities like Alexandria all the way to Khartoum

Description

There is no railway linking Egypt and Sudan. As part of the HSR blue line Egypt has approved an extension from Abu Simbel down to Toskha and then to Wadi Halfa, and from there Sudan will continue into the country. This has been flagged as an important future infrastructure project as currently only regional irregual local services connect to Atbara and Khartoum. Feasibility studies are currently underway with a $2.5 million grant from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).

History

While formal feasibility and preliminary engineering studies have been completed by transport ministries, actual construction progress has been heavily impacted by regional instability and conflict. In the interim, Egyptian National Railways has operated special logistical and humanitarian train services from Cairo and Giza down to Aswan to assist Sudanese nationals with voluntary returns to the border.