Cairo – Mubasher: The Minister of Transport, Kamel El-Wazir, announced that operation and management of a number of new trains will be awarded to international companies, especially following the arrival of six trains from Spain’s Talgo.

In response to demands for using foreign expertise in railway operation and maintenance, El-Wazir said that a contract for operating 200 sleeper train cars will be awarded to an international company in the near future, according to a statement on Wednesday.

The cargo transport sector at the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) will be turned into a public-private partnership company and some train maintenance workshops will be turned into companies.

The government signed an agreement with RATP Group to manage and operate Cairo Metro Line III and another agreement with the French firm to operate and manage the El-Salam-New Administrative Capital-10th of Ramadan City light rail transit (LRT) project.

There are also negotiations with international companies to manage and operate the two monorail lines of the New Administrative Capital and Sixth of October City.

Agreements with international companies include transferring the foreign expertise to the Egyptian side through hiring at least 90% of Egyptians in technical, administrative, operational, and supervisory levels over the 15-year contract period.