Transmashholding (TMH) has started delivery of 1,300 rail passenger coaches to the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) with 22 passenger coaches being delivered to ENR on June 25. This follows the delivery of one coach for testing in April. Ten more coaches are due to arrive at the port of Alexandria in the first week of July, bringing to 33 third-class vehicles equipped with forced ventilation.
The loco-hauled passenger coaches were manufactured by TMH’s subsidiary Tver Carriage Works (TVZ) at its Tver plant in Russia and will start commercial operation in Cairo on July 1. A technical team from TVZ arrived last week in Egypt to perform the official hand-over procedure, which includes a brake check on each coach.
The delivery comes despite the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on international travels. In April, TMH managed to dispatch the first coach just before the lockdown period, allowing ENR to start 2-month running tests on its railway network. Unable to travel abroad, TMH specialists in Russia developed a full training kit and documentation pack for ENR and relied locally on TÜV Nord Egypt technical expertise to supervise the testing together with TMH Egypt local team. In Hungary, BME certification body is expected to deliver certificates of conformity for the coaches by the end of the month.
“We are extremely pleased to have been able, despite the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to deliver on time the first coaches to ENR and to successfully complete the certification test campaign in Hungary and Egypt. This is the result of the joint efforts of a multi-country team in Egypt, Russia, and Hungary, working in close cooperation with the customer,” said David John, Chief Technical Officer and ENR Project Director at TMH International.
The 1300 passenger coaches ordered by ENR will increase capacity, reliability and safety to ENR’s passenger fleet. Over the recent years, Egypt has faced increasing rail accidents caused by obsolete fleet and infrastructure. The country has launched an ambitious modernisation programme of its railway network, resulting in the largest ever rolling stock order won by TMH Hungary in 2018. The more than €1bn contract includes a 5-year warranty period.
The project is financed by the Hungarian and Russian Exim banks under state guarantee of both countries and includes 51% of Hungarian content. With 680 coaches to be manufactured in Hungary, this is the largest ever rolling stock manufacturing project in the country. Together with local partner Magyar Vagon, TMH recently acquired Dunakeszi site (DJJ), where the production will start in the third quarter of the year. The remaining coaches are manufactured at Tver plant in Russia.
The UIC 1435mm vehicles designed by TMH engineers can operate in sand and dust under temperatures up to +50°C with a 40-year lifecycle. TMH will produce five different models of the coaches to be delivered to ENR. Out of these coaches, 500 third-class coaches use forced ventilation, while the rest are equipped with HVAC: 500 third-class, 180 second-class, 90 first-class and 30 second-class restaurant cars.
TMH offers 30 different models of passenger coaches for the 1435 and 1520mm gauges, from single- or double-deckers to seated, sleeping or special-purpose cars. The company manufactures 1,200 passenger coaches every year at its centre of excellence TVZ.
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