Egypt studies new tram line

05 October 2015

The new line will be 12 kilometres long with 17 stations

  • Egypt plans to renovate historic tram line
  • It will be integrated with Cairo’s metro system

Egypt is planning to revive an old tram line in the Heliopolis area of Cairo says Sameh Refaat, vice chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT).

Speaking on the sidelines of MEED’s MENA Rail and Transport conference in Dubai on 5 October, Refaat told MEED that NAT is currently studying plans to renovate Heliopolis’s historic tram way, running down the Abdel Aziz Fahmy road in the affluent area of Cairo.

The new line will be 12 kilometres long with 17 stations. Refaat said the rolling stick requirements will be a 185 and 203 passenger carriages.

The project is currently under study with the total cost of the scheme unclear.

The tram line was recently stripped of all its rails, and in some areas is being used as either an additional lane for traffic or informal paid parking space.

It will be integrated with Cairo’s metro system, which is struggling to cope with Cairo’s more than 20 million inhabitants, which is set to increase to 25 million by 2023, according to government estimates.

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