Egypt’s Minister of Transportation Hesham Arafat announced on December 29 that the ministry has signed a USD 1.2 bn loan agreement with Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) to fund an electric train project that will make commuting across major areas much easier, Invest-Gate reports.

Linking El Salam City with the New Administrative Capital (NAC) and 10th of Ramadan city, the electric train will feature 11 stations and will cover 67 kilometers, with the first phase of construction set to begin by the end of 2019, Arafat said in an official statement.

“All the works related to the transfer of utilities including water, drainage, electricity, and other projects have been completed,” the minister confirmed.

Arafat also acknowledged that all the on-site construction works will be carried out by five Egyptian contracting companies before China’s EXIM start working on the project’s signals, communications, and control.

According to the statement, both sides have agreed to raise the loan to USD 1.2 bn, which will cover the train’s costs, after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping inked a deal back in September 2017 to construct the projected train at a total cost of USD 739 mn.