Derby-built monorail train completes first Cairo journey

A new film has been released showing a monorail train built by Alstom’s  Derby factory completing its first journey through Cairo.

The driverless monorail train, whose cars were assembled and tested at the firm’s Litchurch Lane Works, has taken its first trip on the 57km line in Cairo as part of a programme of dynamic testing.

Alstom has supplied the cars as part of a £2.3 billion contract to construct and run the new Egyptian network.

It is the first export of UK-manufactured rolling stock since Derby-built trains were supplied to South Africa for the Gautrain rail system in 2008.

This week, the firm shared the film of one of its monorail trains making its first test journey.

In a social media post, the company said: “The first Derby-built train has traversed the entire 57km East Nile line in Cairo – the world’s longest monorail and driverless system.

“Assembled at our Litchurch Lane Works, these new trains have supported hundreds of jobs across the UK.”

The Cairo Monorail is the longest driverless monorail system in the world.

In total, 272 monorail cars for Cairo were assembled and tested in Derby, which is also home to Alstom’s Global Centre of Excellence for Monorail.

In January last year, the team in Derby celebrated the completion of the final Cairo Monorail car off the production lines.

The first train was dispatched from the Litchurch Lane site on 14 June 2021 – which was 20 months post-contract signature – with the last train departing on 16 January last year.

Once fully operational, the Cairo Monorail system will transport up to 45,000 passengers an hour in each direction.

The cars will offer air conditioning, customer information screens and a more affordable mode of public transport to mitigate congestion throughout the Cairo metropolitan area.

A second 42km line will connect West of Nile with Giza.

The first phase of the Cairo Monorail is due to open to passengers later this year.

To view the video by clicking here.