Photo shows the Light Rail Transit train during a trial run at Adly Mansour station in Cairo, Egypt, on June 30, 2022. Egypt is constructing its first Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, which will be the first mass transportation means linking the New Administrative Capital to Greater Cairo after it is finished.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
Egypt's first electrified light rail transit (LRT) system, jointly built by Chinese and Egyptian companies, started trial runs on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi taking the first ride, according to a report on the website of the Embassy of China in Egypt on Monday.

Chinese experts said the project, the latest of a string of mega infrastructure projects Chinese companies delivered to their customers around the world in the past week, is a major success of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), reflecting the initiative's vitality and potential of Chinese railway technology exports to Africa.

The trial run of the LRT project in Egypt follows the start of full commercial operations of the gigantic 720-megawatt Karot Hydropower Plant in Pakistan on June 29 and the delivery of Bangladesh's 6.15-kilometer Padma Bridge on June 25, the longest in the country.

The rail project connects Egypt's New Administrative Capital being constructed east of Cairo with surrounding distant new cities and districts including El-Salam City, 10th of Ramadan City, El-Obour City, Badr City and El-Shorouk City.

The line is the first electrified LRT in both Egypt and Africa, according to the Chinese embassy, noting that it will boost the economy in eastern Egypt and accelerate the industrialization of Egypt.

Built by the consortium of China Railway Group and AVIC International Holding Corp, the $1.24 billion LRT will provide efficient commuting service for 5 million local people.

The first phase of the LRT project contains 22 trains and has daily transport capacity for 360,000 passengers, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday, citing Egyptian transport minister.

The project is the latest Chinese railway project in Africa, following other signature projects including the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway in the horn of Africa and the Chinese-built Lagos-Ibadan railway in Nigeria.

"China has been building African countries' infrastructure for many years, and the investment in African countries surpasses most Western countries and the IMF," He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday. 

He said that China's railway projects carry technology components and standards, and China-made railway systems are welcomed by African countries due to its high efficiency and low expenditure. 

"China has advanced railway construction technologies which have reached a level that can be exported overseas," Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, told the Global Times on Monday. Zhao noted that Chinese enterprises have the ability to complete the construction mission but the LRT system may bring financial pressure to the operators of the system. 

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang hailed the LRT project as a remarkable cooperation program between China and Egypt under the BRI while attending the opening ceremony held on Saturday at the Adly Mansour Station, the largest transfer station in the Middle-East.

Since 2000, Chinese companies have completed more than 10,000 kilometers of railways in Africa, in addition to more than 100,000 kilometers of road, nearly 1,000 bridges, nearly 100 ports and a vast number of hospitals and schools, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The LTR will directly benefit Egyptian people's livelihoods amid the current global fuel price surges, and it is an important milestone in the China-Africa cooperation process," He noted.