Workers have started laying tracks in the desert east of Cairo for Egypt's first high-speed train, which will link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the latest attempt to modernise transport in the vast country.

Described by Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir as a "new Suez Canal on rails", the project is slated to be completed in 2028, and will carry passengers and cargo the 660-kilometre distance in as little as three hours.

The Green Line, as it is known, is the latest of a long list of megaprojects undertaken by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi's government in the past decade – the crowning jewel of which is a still $58 billion New Administrative Capital east of Cairo.

In 2021, Egypt signed a $4.5 billion contract with a foreign consortium to establish the Green Line, which will form the first of three high-speed tracks across the country.

Urban planning bet

Authorities hope the nearly 2,000 kilometre-network will carry 1.5 million passengers per day.

The Green Line will run across the country's north, from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean, crossing two Cairo satellite cities – the New Administrative Capital to the east, and to the west 6th of October City, home to Egypt's only dry port.

According to Tarek Goueili, head of the National Authority for Tunnels, Egypt's revamped rail network will carry 15 million tonnes of cargo per year – 3% of last year's Suez Canal transit volume.

For those behind it, the Green Line is also an urban planning bet.

To ease pressure on Greater Cairo

With desert accounting for most of Egypt's million square kilometres, the vast majority of Egypt's 108 million people are stacked vertically along the Nile River and its delta.

After its inauguration, the Green Line will be followed by the Blue Line, which will track the Nile linking Cairo to Aswan, and the Red Line, which will connect the Red Sea cities of Hurghada and Safaga inland to Luxor.