Egypt and Sudan have maintained a rather complex and moody relationship over the past centuries. It all started back in 1821 when Sudan was incorporated into Egypt during the Muhammad Ali dynasty. Since then, it has been a whirlpool of events; both good and bad, starting with the past Mahdist Sudan national revolution.
Current disputes mainly revolve around the Hala’ib Triangle and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Fortunately, among all the political chaos, an agreement was recently made that will hopefully spark a positive chain reaction for both nations in the future.
At the end of October 2018, the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir, witnessed the official signing of the establishment of a train line that will directly connect Egypt to Sudan. The track will start at Sidi Gaber railway station and end in Khartoum.
The Sudanese Minister of Transport and Urban Development, Hatem El Ser, stated that this project would allow the beginning of an Arab cooperation to support commerce through transportation. He also mentioned that the initial budget of this major project would cost approximately half a billion dollars with “China as the closest to financing the railway project between the two”.
According to Egyptian Streets Egypt’s Minister of Transport, Hisham Arafat, explained that a committee was formed between the Egyptian Railway Authority and the Sudanese Railway Authority to link the two countries with railway lines, adding that goods could be transported between the two countries through this project.
