The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Shatt, announced the approval by the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors of $440 million for the project to

develop the railway sector and improve the safety and operational efficiency factor of Egypt's railway services.

In a statement, the Minister said that development funding, approved by the World Bank, was an important catalyst for the State's transport sector development strategy and was driving efforts to achieve sustainable development goals.

The objective of the Egypt Railway Development and Safety Project is to modernize signalling systems and renovate railroad rails along the Cairo-Beni Suave Line, as well as to complete the work of the Egypt Railway Restructuring Project on the Alexandria-Cairo and Bani Suave-Nangam Hamadi Lines for a total length of 763 km.

The project also aims to improve the safety of railway passengers, workers and employees through the introduction of a modern safety management system. The level of service is expected to improve with improved train timeliness, which is expected to rise from 75% to 90%, according to the statement.

In her statement, the Minister added that the current development financing portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation included funds worth more than $13 billion that were directed to sustainable infrastructure, including transport projects.

The portfolio included 36 projects worth $5.7 billion to implement the ninth goal of sustainable development, "Industry, innovation and infrastructure," as well as 30 projects to implement the eleventh goal of $1.5 billion, "Sustainable cities and communities," and 34 projects for Goal 7, "Clean energy at affordable prices," worth $5.9 billion.