CAIRO: The Egyptian National Railways authority (ENR) has signed a contract with the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) Electronics Factory to develop 300 crossings nationwide, Youm7 reported Thursday.
ENR Chairman Ahmed Hamed said that the contract comes within the fourth stage of the crossings development plan with a total cost of 278 million EGP ($36.45 million,) to be implemented within 24 months from the date of contracting.
“The project will contribute to raising the security level of crossings and will save foreign currency, which was spent on importing such appliances,” Hamed said.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding with Hungary on the railway and security fields, Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said in a statement on June 6.
In December 2013, Hamed announced the completion of the first locally-made railway crossing in the military production factories.
“It will save millions of pounds that were spent on the contracts with foreign companies to develop the crossings and import their spare parts,” said Hamed.
He assured that that the local crossings work automatically, with a lower cost compared to the crossings manufactured abroad. It will also help the authority to accelerate the completion of the development of railway crossings. Therefore, he stated, the number of train accidents will decrease.