Egyptian Ministry of Transport has signed a E£22 billion ($1.2 billion) agreement with a Hungarian joint venture group being led by Russia’s TransMach Holding for the development of rail infrastructure projects across the country. said a report.

As per the deal, the Russian-Hungarian JV will be manufacturing and supplying 1,300 new railway passenger vehicles, in what might be considered the biggest deal in country railway history, reported Daily News Egypt.

The agreement is aimed at improving the level of service and is in line with its plan to improve Egypt’s railway infrastructure by 2020, said Transport Minister Hisham Arafat, at the signing ceremony held in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat, Minister of Military Production Mohamed El Assar and representatives of the Russian company and the head of the Egyptian National Railways.

The 1,300 new railway cars equal 34 per cent of all Egyptian railway vehicles, he added.