EGYPT: The joint venture of Hassan Allam Construction and Arab Contractors which is upgrading the Raml tramway in Alexandria has awarded Hitachi Rail a contract to supply signalling and communications systems, the operational control centre, SCADA, CCTV, access control, passenger information systems and onboard equipment.
The Raml tramway dates back to 1863, and operates on aging infrastructure which Hitachi Rail said was last modernized in the 1960s. It is one of the few tramways still running double-deck trams in regular service.
The modernisation project involves the reconstruction of 13·2 km of tram route and 24 stops to light rail standards. This is expected to improve services significantly, by doubling the commercial speed from 11 km/h to 21 km/h and decreasing headways from 9 to 3 min. This will reduce the end-to-end journey time from 60 to 35 min and triple capacity from 4 700 to 13 800 passengers/h per direction, contributing to enhanced urban mobility while alleviating traffic congestion and lowering CO₂ emissions.
‘The contract will see us modernise and upgrade the oldest electric tram system in Africa, transforming it into a reliable, efficient and digitally enhanced transportation system’, said Carlo Piacenza, SRS MEA Regional Director at Hitachi Rail, on November 12. ‘The project underlines the capabilities of Hitachi Rail technologies in the rehabilitation and modernisation of tramway systems.’
Hyundai Rotem has a separate contract to supply trams for the line.
