Cairo Metro ticket prices to increase in 2018

CAIRO – 3 December 2017: Cairo Metro Company spokesperson Ahmed Abdel-Hady said the company and the Ministry of Transport are still negotiating the expected increase in ticket prices.

Hady added during a phone interview with Al-Mehwar satellite channel that new prices of tickets will be announced as soon as developments at Metro stations are over, pointing out that new station ticket gates will be installed starting 2018.

Last month, the Metro company refuted reports that a proposed increase would take place in the current year; Hady told Al-Ahram newspaper that any increase would be dependent upon the introduction of new stations in the underground system's third line, as well as the installation of new service equipment in lines one and two, which comprise the metro's oldest.

Over the past month, several media outlets quoted officials saying that a new hike was expected soon, suggesting that the new fare would depend on the number of stations the passenger intends to pass through.

The Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation, which was established in 1984 to operate, maintain and manage the Cairo Metro, generates its revenues from individual tickets and subscriptions.

Last March, Egypt increased the price of standard metro tickets to EGP 2, doubling the cost from EGP 1.

Then in July, Egypt's Minister of Transportation Hesham Arafat said in an interview that ticket prices for Cairo’s metro system are expected to see a gradual increase, eventually reaching EGP 4 by the last quarter of 2018.

Cairo’s underground train system, launched in 1987, is one of the oldest in the Middle East and Africa.

Over 3.5 million of Greater Cairo's 21 million inhabitants rely on the subway for their daily travel, according to estimates by the country's National Authority for Tunnels, Al-Ahram reported.