The Spanish company also pledged to intensify their efforts to hasten the delivery of the other five trains, a statement by the Egyptian transportation ministry read.

Talgo made its statements during a meeting in its Madrid headquarters that included Minister of Transportation Kamel El- Wazir and Talgo’s Chairman Carlos Oriol.

El-Wazir is on an official visit to Spain in which he inspected Talgo’s factory in Madrid and followed up on the train manufacturing line.

The minister was also briefed on the maintenance work that will be carried out by the Spanish manufacturer in Egypt according to its contract with the Egyptian National Railways Authority.

According to the contract, Talgo will provide equipment to the workshop that is being implemented in Cairo for the trains.

The equipment will be similar to what is used in the Talgo workshop in Madrid, the company affirmed during the meeting.

The Spanish manufacturer also briefed El-Wazir on the predictive maintenance system that will be followed during the export of the six trains from Spain to Egypt.

Through this system, the maintenance team will be able to maintain the condition of the trains and fix any malfunctions that may develop before the train reaches the Cairo workshop, the statement explained.

The Egyptian state has adopted a plan to completely develop the entire railway system in the country and replace all old railcars with either upgraded or new ones by the end of 2021.

The plan also involves upgrading railway signaling systems for higher safety, improving workshops and supplying them with modern equipment, and also installing automatic train control with a speed control mechanism in response to any emergency.

Railway lines in recent years have witnessed numerous train accidents, with dozens killed this year due to separate incidents in different governorates.

In April, El-Wazir said a total of EGP 1.7 billion have been spent to develop the country’s railway stations.

This is in addition to the new monorail and high-speed train lines being established in the country in cooperation with international partners. Egypt’s first monorail train arrived at Alexandria Port late in July.

Earlier in September, Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels signed a contract with German company Siemens Mobility for the design and manufacture of the first high-speed train line in Egypt that will run from Ain Sokhna to Matrouh.

The contract stipulates that the 660 km-long line of the first phase will be designed, established, and maintained for 15 years at a cost of $4.45 billion.