NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL, Egypt (AFP) — 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 modernize transport in the vast country.

Described by Transportation Minister Kamel al-Wazir as a “new Suez Canal on rails,” the project is slated to be completed in 2026 and will carry passengers and cargo the 660-kilometer (410-mile) 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 el-Sissi’s government in the past decade — the crowning jewel of which is a still sparsely populated $58 billion New Administrative Capital east of Cairo.

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

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

Egypt’s existing........

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