Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has extended the initial discussions for the financing and construction of Cairo Metro Line 5 to a number of interested contractors in addition to a team of South Korean firms.

Line 5 will run for 24km from El-Wafaa Wel Amal in Nasr City to the El-Sahel area.

“We want to have more options and… [are] widening the number of potential parties that can participate in the project,” a NAT spokesperson tells MEED.

It is understood that South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem has been in discussions with NAT for the supply of trains for Line 5.

In February, Hyundai Rotem won the $377.5m contract for the supply of 256 metro cars for the third phase of the Cairo Metro Line 3, outbidding France’s Alstom.

The contract is to be financed by the South Korean government through an agreement with the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and with export financing to be provided by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Line 6 is now at a more advanced stage than Line 5.

Canada’s Bombardier recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation (ECMMO) for the financing and construction of Line 6.

Egypt expects to finalise a contract with Canada’s Bombardier for the $4bn scheme in the first half of 2018.