Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has extended the deadline to 14 August for the electromechanical systems package for the first phase of Cairo Metro’s Line 4 .

The prequalified groups that are expected to bid for the contract are:

• Mitsubishi (Japan)/Orascom Construction (local)
• Marubeni (Japan)
• Hitachi (Japan)/Sumitomo (Japan)
• Toyo (Japan)/Mitsui (Japan)

The first phase of Cairo Metro Line 4 has been structured into four packages that include two civil works packages, and one package each for the rolling stock and electromechanical systems.

MEED understands the first civil works package for the scheme is to be imminently awarded to the sole bidder, a joint venture of Japan’s Taisei Corporation and local firm Orascom Construction.

The bid for the second civil works package is under technical evaluation. The Taisei/Orascom team is also the sole bidder for that contract.

On 16 May, NAT received a single bid, from Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, for the rolling stock package.

MEED reported that a final loan agreement between NAT and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the first phase of Line 4 could be reached potentially within a month.

Based on the feasibility study undertaken by NAT in 2010, phase 1 of Cairo Metro Line 4 requires an investment of $4bn, of which Jica is understood to have agreed to provide $1.2bn in loan.

However, it is still unclear if the size of the financing specified in 2010 will change when the final agreement is reached.

NAT is also undertaking talks to finalise loan terms with three banks that agreed to co-finance the majority of the €749m ($872m) planned upgrade of Cairo Metro Line 1, which first entered service in 1987.

Cairo Metro Line 1, which features 34 stations, was built at a cost of $250m in the 1980s. It has a design capacity of 2 million passengers a day. The latest available figure indicates that passenger numbers are 1.6 million a day.