NAT to buy 6 new air-conditioned metro trains

CAIRO - 19 May 2018: The National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) launched Saturday a tender for international companies to offer their bids for providing six new air-conditioned trains and 2 tractors for the second line of metro linking between (Shubra - al-Moneeb).

The project of constructing the second line of metro is financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which will provide Egypt with €100-million concessional loan of.

NAT set the date of July 8 as the deadline for receiving bids from all companies.

The government decided to increase the fare of metro tickets to be based on the length of each commute on May 10, after the underground subway system has incurred financial losses worth millions of pounds. The metro ticket price used to be fixed at L.E. 2 ($0.11) no matter how long the passenger's commute was.

Commuters will be charged a base fare of LE 3 ($0.16) for the first nine stops, and an additional LE 2 (total LE 5) for seven more stations. The highest ticket price has been fixed at LE 7 if the commuter will use the metro for more than 16 stations.

The increase has triggered anger among citizens who are currently suffering from dramatic surge in prices after the floatation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016 and two waves of fuel subsidy cuts. The move was described by the government as “necessary” to improve the service of the subway that works for 20 hours every day, assuring that discounted fares for students, elderly people and people with disabilities are still valid.

On Wednesday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi commented on the metro fare rise during the fifth edition of the National Youth Conference, saying "We do not have the luxury of hesitating in making the right decisions for the sake of our country. Raising the Metro ticket price is not a new decision; we have been discussing this for a long time, and we do not have any other choices."

Over 3.5 million of Greater Cairo's 21 million inhabitants rely on the metro for their daily travel, according to estimates by the country's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT).

In-depth look at Cairo metro's fare increase

CAIRO - 11 May 2018: The Ministry of Transportation has increased the price of metro tickets for the second time in less than a year. The metro is considered one of the main means of daily transportation for over 3.5 million of Greater Cairo's 21 million residents, according to estimates by the country's National Authority for Tunnels.