Cost-benefit analysis of railway electrification: case study for Cairo-Alexandria railway line

Abstract

Egypt National Railway trains (passenger and freight) are currently operated with diesel traction, except for two electrified Metro lines in Cairo of about 55 km in length. An electrified rail system could have a number of operational and environmental benefits. This paper examines the economic and financial viability of a proposed electrification scheme for the Cairo—Alexandria railway line. The framework of appraisal developed identifies the potential direct and indirect benefits of the scheme, and its costs. The evaluation of different types of costs and benefits included a sequence of analytical steps. The results showed that the scheme achieves only about 9% internal rate of return. However, applying a broader cost-benefit analysis to include all sources of benefits shows that it is highly desirable on an economic basis. Despite the extreme difficulty of obtaining the required data and information, plausible and coherent results were achieved, which are also seen to be consistent with other results of electrification schemes in Europe.

Keywords:

• cost-benefit analysis
• railway electrification
• Egypt