Sadat metro station closed Friday for ‘security concerns’

CAIRO – 16 June 2017: The Sadat metro station, located beneath the iconic Tahrir Square of downtown Cairo, is closed to passengers on Friday due to “security concerns,” said Cairo Metro Company spokesperson Ahmed Abdul-Hady Friday morning.

While Sadat station is one of the largest metro stations in Cairo, it was shut down for two years after the dispersal of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins of Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda Squares in August, 2013.

During the time of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood protests in 2013, numerous violent clashes and attacks took place in the country resulting in the death of hundreds of security force personnel and citizens; more than 3 million Cairenes use the metro to travel every day. With the closure of the Sadat station, all commuters on the two main lines depend on one transfer station, resulting in overcrowded stations during rush hours, said officials from the Cairo Metro Company.