Egypt’s Minister of Transport Kamal El Wazir has put into service Abu Hamad Tower with a modern electronic interlocking system as part of the signalling system upgrades on the Benha – Port Said railway line.
Siemens installed a modern electronic interlocking system, replacing the existing electromechanical interlocking system to ensure safety for passengers and increase the number of trains in circulation on the railway line.
The Benha – Port Said railway section consists of 21 main towers, 19 secondary towers and 88 level crossings; Abu Hamad Tower controls 27 semaphore signals and 3 level crossings.
In April 2016, the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) awarded Siemens the contract to supply the signalling equipment for the Zagazig – Abu Kebir and Benha – Port Said railway sections (a total of 260 km).
Other rail lines being upgraded include the 250km Beni Suef – Asyut line by Alstom and the Alexandria – Benha (160 km), Asyut – Nagh Hammadi (180 km), Benha – Cairo (48 km) sections by Thales.
The signalling project is financed by the World Bank and was launched by Egypt’s Ministry of Transport as part of an initiative to modernise signalling systems all over the ENR network, enhance operations and increase the level of safety to match international standards.
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