Egyptian transport minister holds talks in London

Egyptian Transport Minister Saad el Goushy held a number of meetings with British officials on Wednesday over boosting transport and infrastructure cooperation.

Goushy held talks with British Minister of State for Middle East Affairs Baroness Symons and officials of the British Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain's railways.

Talks tackled the maintenance of train stations and rail network and the role of the private sector in this regard.

The minister toured King's Cross train station to stand on the way of operating it.

Goushy also visited the infrastructure projects unit at the British government, the unit in charge of assessing and running all infrastructure projects in the UK.

Talks covered the way of financing infrastructure projects and whether they were financed by the government or through a partnership between the government and the private sector.

The Egyptian minister will meet on Thursday with Undersecretary of State for Transport Claire Perry and tour Crossrail project, the biggest under-construction rail and infrastructure project in Europe.

The project, to be operational in 2019, aims at providing a high-frequency commuter/suburban passenger service that will link parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, via central London, to Essex and South East London.

Source: MENA