Upgrading Cairo Metro's first line costs €990M, says minister

CAIRO – 28 May 2017: The total cost of upgrading the Cairo Metro's first line is €990 million ($1.1 billion), Minister of Transport Hesham Arafat said in a Sunday statement.

The sum includes €360 million for improving the infrastructure in addition to €630 million representing the cost of purchasing new air-conditioned wagons, the minister said, citing a report compiled by France-based consulting firm Systra.

Arafat's remarks were made on the sidelines of his meeting with officials from the National Authority for Tunnels in addition to the Egyptian Co. for Metro Management and Operation to discuss the plan drawn up to develop the Metro first and second lines.

The minister also reviewed the offers submitted by the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the Agence Francaise de Developpement to fund upgrading the Metro’s first line.

Arafat noted that the first line carries up to 1.5 million passengers every day, recording the highest density among the three Metro lines.