from Aswan to Toshka and Abu Simbel, as well as the 80 km extension to Sudan, which includes a 6 km bridge across Lake Nasser. The third line is planned in the south from Safaga through Sahl Hasheesh, Hurghada, East Sohag, Qena, and Qus, ending in Luxor, at a total cost of $2.7 billion with a construction time of two years. Contracts for building the second and third lines were planned to be signed by Siemens in March 2022; the 8.1 billion euro contract was signed on May 31, 2022 between the Egyptian government and Siemens (and its consortium partners Orascom Construction and The Arab Contractors), and includes the construction of the second and third line as well as 41 Velaro 8-car high-speed passenger trains, 94 Desiro high-capacity four-car regional train sets, and 41 Vectron freight locomotives, as well as ETCS Level 2 and a suitable power grid. The entire network is projected to cost US$23 billion and span over 2000 km. Intent to build an extension eastwards from Marsa Matruh through El Negaila to Sallum on the Libyan border, to Benghazi in Libya, was announced by Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir in November 2020, and was again confirmed by the Libyan-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce on 18 January 2021. An extension to Siwa was also mentioned. This is part of the Egyptian government's larger plan to build political and economic links with both Libya and Sudan, including to Wadi Halfa. Libya Prior to the 2011 Libyan Revolution, the government under Gaddafi was actively building a high-speed rail line capable of 200 km/h operation from the Tunisian border to the Egyptian border, at a total cost of $7.9 billion. Russian Railways had won the $2.9 billion deal for the section between Sirte and Benghazi, with an anticipated completion in 2012; at least 14 km out of the planned 554 km line was laid. China Railway had been working on a $2.6 billion link between Sirte and Khums, with plans for extension westwards to Tripoli. In 2010, the Libyan government proposed a feasibility study for a $2 billion high-speed rail line between Benghazi and Tobruk, expected to be completed by 2012. Trains were to run on diesel, with eventual electrification planned. Dorsch Afrique was also involved in designing the 150 km high-speed connection between Tobruk and Umm Saad on the Egyptian border. Three kilometers of high-speed track were finished, including a station