Cairo Metro - Proposed Plans

Proposed Plans

The idea of a metro was first thought of in the 1930s by the Egyptian engineer Saiyed Abdel Wahed who was working at the Egyptian Railway Authority, however, the idea did not progress. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, there was renewed interest in the idea. In 1954 French experts made a report about the future of the transportation in Egypt. They proposed a metro encompassing two lanes, one 12 km long lane connecting Bab al-Louq and Ismailia and a second 5 km lane connecting Boulaq and Abou al-Ela Castle. They also proposed that there should be one company in charge of all transportation systems.

Later on multiple experts came to Egypt regarding that project: Soviet experts in 1956, Japanese experts in 1960 and French experts in 1962, which concluded the following: The creation of a metro system with multiple lines. The first is a 5 km lane connecting Helwan with El-Marg going under the Kasr el eini street and Ramses Street. The second lane would be from Sayeda Zainab to Shobra going under Downtown Cairo and would be 9.5 km long. The third is from Giza to Abbasiyah and would be 11.5 km long. The fourth is from Al Awqaf to the Castle and is 6.7 km long.

In 1964 British experts advised the creation of a metro line from Bab El Louk to Shubra. In 1966 Japanese experts advised the creation of a lane between Helwan and El Marg and another one going through Mohandessin, Heliopolis and 26 of July street, which would encompass 26 km. Lastly, in 1969, the government approved the need for a study showing the needed capacity for Cairo's transportation system. The Egyptian Ministry of Transport had an international tender for the creation of the study. Eight companies applied and the French company Sufreto won the tender on 20 September 1970. The study was finished in 1973 and included mainly the study of the population development in Cairo and its needs for transportation capacity in 1980,1985 and 1990. It concluded the necessity for three lines in greater Cairo to solve the transportation problem. The first line would use the already available railways (Helwan-Bab El luk and Al Laymoun Bridge- El Marg) and connect them through a metro. It would be in total 43 km long. The second line should be 13.5 km and connect Shubra El-Kheima and Bulak el Dakrur going through Ramses Street and Tahrir Square. The third line would go from El Darasa to Imbaba and would be in total 10 km long.

The priority for the project was the first line which would reduce 30% of the daily transport to and from Cairo and use the already available structures. The detailed study of the construction took 6 years from 1975 to 1981. A tender was made for the construction of the metro and the Egyptian-French company Entra Nevra Arabco won it and had the task of constructing the metro system.