Egypt on Thursday received 10 new train locomotives from the United States to boost its public transport sector.

The locomotives were received by the country's Minister for Transport Kamel Al-Wazir and are the first batch of a 110-locomotive agreement signed between the North African country and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the procurement of new locomotives and the maintenance of 81 railway tractors.

The locomotives will help the Egyptian National Railways serve more people and also improve the quality of the sector's service delivery.

"These are the first new locomotives to join the fleet of the Egyptian Railway Authority since 2009." Al-Wazir noted.

The new locomotives are also expected to help decongest the country's roads in addition to increasing the financial resources available to the national railway.

Al-Wazir pointed out that the funds used to purchase the first batch of locomotives were derived from the railway authority's own resources from tickets, fines, railway assets, and advertisements  at a cost of $27.05 million. The total value of all 110 locomotives is expected to reach $602.05 million.

Source: Ahram Online