Crowds at Marg station to shrink by December, as oldest line duplicates

CAIRO – 23 August 2018: Crowded lines of commuters waiting for the metro at Marg metro station in Cairo are expected to shrink as the government plans to duplicate the 30-year old subway line by December 2018.

The Marg metro station has always been one line going to and from Helwan, in contrary to other stations on different lines, where there are two pavements serving travelers going to and returning from their destinations.

The same thing will be done to the first line, specifically at Marg station, which will have another sister station carrying the same name the “New Marg station,” after the extension is applied.

The duplication is also believed to lessen the maximum waiting time for next trains to 3.5 minutes, instead of 10 minutes, totaling the time for one trip running from Helwan to Marg as 75 minutes, which is a time record, according to Mohamed Ezz, the spokesperson for the Transport Ministry.

Ezz said that the total cost of the duplication works to the first line is estimated at €19.3 million, which will be funded from the French Development Agency (AFD) and LE 96 million will be funded locally.

The duplication of the Marg line comes as part of the renovation plan to the oldest line of Cairo’s metro system.

The renovation project aims to restructure the railway infrastructure of the first line, railway tracks and renovating the stations. It also includes developing lighting, electromechanically, communication and central control systems.

Earlier this month, a €205 million ($238 million) deal has been inked between the Egyptian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the same purpose.

Transport Minister Arafat explained that the development works of the first line is divided into two phases. As per the agreement, the first phase will cost €751 million: €205 million from EBRD and €350 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB); €50 million from the French Development Agency (AFD) and €146 million will be funded locally.

While the second phase of the renovation includes purchasing mobile units at a cost of €650 million.

An urgent and comprehensive plan worth LE 32 billion to raise the efficiency of the oldest metro line running from El-Marg to Helwan, south of Cairo, has been announced last month.

Since May, Cairenes have been charged for using the subway based on the length of each commute. The new fares are LE 3 ($0.17) for the first nine stops, LE 5 for up to 16 stops and LE 7 for more than 16 stops. Before increasing the metro’s fare, the price of the underground tickets had previously been doubled in July 2017 from LE 1 to LE 2 as part of reforms that cut subsidies after the inflation.

The recent move comes as part of the Egyptian government’s austerity measures linked to the three-year loan worth $12 billion secured with the International Monetary Fund.

More than 3.5 million passengers of Greater Cairo’s 21 million residents rely on the subway for their daily travel, according to estimates by the NAT. Ongoing metro extensions are expected to increase the number of commuters to nine million per day.

Reda Hebeshy and MENA contributed to this report