PB oversaw tunneling that included both cut-and-cover construction and two 9.4-meter-diameter (31-foot-diameter) tunnel-boring machines. The latter moved at record speeds to create the 5.8-kilometer (3.6-mile) tunnel.

Transit cars feature 24 on-board computers per six-car train, AC propulsion and a sophisticated on-board information system; they travel at-grade, on an elevated viaduct and in tunnel sections. The system is expected to accommodate a peak hourly capacity of 60,000 passengers in each direction. To ensure that the railway would be operated and correctly, PB conducted rigorous theoretical and practical training for operating staff.

Project manager Ali Zubaidi comments that the first Nile crossing, under the river's west channel, was completed in just five working days, with the second crossing—under the east channel—achieved in just 14. Meeting the challenge, Zubaidi asserts, was possible through "teamwork and cooperation between the owner, the National Authority of Tunnels, the contractor, and PB staff and their combined expertise and experience.