Economics trumps politics: Egypt and Saudi Arabia plan to build first high-speed rail link

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are close to establishing a high-speed rail link, the first between the two Arab countries.

Specialists on both sides pin hopes on the project to increase trade and ease the movement of persons between the two Arab nations.

The new rail route will connect the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Egyptian side with Ras Alsheikh Hamid on the Saudi side.

It will use a bridge to connect the two areas over the Red Sea, passing by Tiran Island, which, together with Sanafir, another Red Sea island, was under Egypt's administrative and military control for decades before Egyptian authorities handed them over to the Saudis in 2017.

The transfer of the two islands triggered a wave of lawsuits by Egyptian nationals against the Egyptian government, some of which are still being investigated by local courts.

Technical studies for the new rail link have already been completed, according to the Egyptian minister of transport, making the prospect of its construction more likely.

The link's construction, first envisioned by King Salman of Saudi Arabia in 2017 during a visit to Egypt, is expected to cost around $4 billion.

It will be instrumental in stepping up the movement of cargo between the two countries, hence increasing trade, specialists in Cairo argue.

"This is a very important project that will reflect very positively on the economies of both Egypt and Saudi Arabia once it is completed," Egyptian economist Khaled al-Shafie told The New Arab.

"It will revolutionise transport between them, something that can double and even triple their current volume of economic cooperation," he added.

The new rail route will also be the first between Arab states in Africa and Asia, potentially playing a crucial role in integrating economies.

Trains operating on the expected link will travel for seven to ten kilometres from one side to the other, which will take a fraction of the time required now for travel between the two countries, including via buses or Red Sea ferries.

Part of a larger plan

The project is a minor detail in a larger transport interconnection plan between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, one also suggested by the Saudi monarch during his visit to Egypt eight years ago.

The rail link will be part of a central bridge between the two countries, according to initial plans unveiled in 2017.

At the time, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suggested that it be called the "King Salman Bridge". It was expected to ease the movement of $200 billion in cargo between the two countries annually.

The bridge will also facilitate the movement of labour and pilgrims between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, whose trade rose by 29 percent in 2024 to reach $15.98 billion.

In 2023, around 1.47 million Egyptians lived and worked in Saudi Arabia. Tens of thousands of Egyptian nationals also participate in the annual hajj ritual in Mecca.

Saudi observers anticipate that the new bridge will significantly enhance movement between the two countries shortly after it becomes operational.

"It will affect radical change in trade, not only between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but also between Asia and Africa," Saudi political analyst Omar Seif told TNA.

However, since it was proposed by the Saudi monarch in 2017, enthusiasm for the King Salman Bridge and rail link diminished over the years as relations have fluctuated due to Cairo's and Riyadh's differing positions towards specific regional and international issues.

Cairo and Riyadh are now at the heart of major power rivalries.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations' reception last month of US President Donald Trump and the multitrillion dollar investment and trade pledges they made to and signed with the American president, shows a return to backing the American camp after a withdrawal under the former Joe Biden administration.

Egypt, on the other hand, is diversifying its relations, namely with China and Russia.

Saudi Arabia has not shown eagerness to join BRICS, a bloc of emerging economies, including China, Russia and Brazil, which want to challenge US global economic hegemony, of which Egypt is a member.

Dreams of economic integration

Economic interests are a primary contributor to this divergence in the policies of the two countries, especially with the Suez Canal in Egypt coming at the heart of China's Belt and Road initiative and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states featuring highly in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor unveiled by Biden in 2023 and will likely bypass the Suez Canal.

The King Salman Bridge, whose technical studies have already been completed as well, according to Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir, aligns with the aspiring economic development plans of the two countries.

Egypt aims to be a key hub in a major railway network that connects Asia and Europe, and over the past decade, it invested tens of billions of dollars to upgrade its railways and establish new rail routes, including into the Sinai Peninsula.

It also has an aspiring plan to connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean through a railroad that will extend from the southern Sinai town of Taba on the Red Sea to the northern coastal city of Alexandria, a project described by local transport specialists as a "new Suez Canal".

The same project also seeks to thwart the Ben Gurion Canal, the assertive maritime link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean that Israel desires to dig as a challenge to the Suez Canal.

With plans to attract investments to the Suez Canal region and develop Sinai which was neglected by successive Egyptian governments after its liberation from Israeli occupation in 1973, Egypt views the planned bridge as an essential economic development tool amid expectations that it will increase movement to and from these two regions.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, seeks to diversify its economy by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and attract investments to its industrial sector.

The oil-rich Arab state has formulated an enterprising plan to develop its tourism sector, with a multibillion dollar city planned for the Saudi Red Sea coast.

All these plans will necessarily receive a boost from the construction of a land connection with Egypt, which stands at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe, Saudi observers said.

"The bridge will ease the movement of tourists between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in a clear manner," Seif, who is also a media consultant to the head of the International Union of Universities in Saudi Arabia, said.

"It will contribute to advancing economic integration, not only between the two countries, but also between them and other Arab countries in Africa and Asia," he added.