Derby-built monorail enters service in Cairo

Trains built by manufacturing giant Alstom in Derby have entered commercial service in Cairo following the launch of a new monorail system.

The trains carried fare‑paying passengers for the first time on Wednesday and form part of a £2.3bn contract for the firm to build and operate a 61‑mile monorail network in the Egyptian capital.

In total, 272 Cairo Monorail cars, forming 68 trains, were assembled and tested at the firm's Litchurch Lane Works site in Derby, with the final car coming off the production lines in January 2024.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "Derby's success in Cairo shows what Britain can achieve when government and business work together."

Alstom said the Cairo monorail project was the first time a British factory had exported rolling stock since 2008, when Derby last put trains on a ship, bound for the Gautrain rail network in South Africa's Gauteng province.

In August 2019, an Alstom-led consortium involving Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors signed the contract to design, construct, operate and maintain the new Cairo Monorail, which is the "longest driverless train system in the world".

The new system, using Alstom's Innovia monorail platform, is expected to transport up to 45,000 passengers an hour in each direction, connecting central Cairo with both 6th of October City and the new administrative capital being developed 28 miles (45km) east.

Andrew DeLeone, chief executive officer for Europe at Alstom said the firm had "proved again that UK rail can be an export powerhouse".

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