Systra was selected for the consultancy contract against competition from three other firms Japan's Pacific Consultants International, the US' Parsons Brinckerhoff and Arup of the UK. Systra with Arab Consulting Engineers drew up the initial designs for the project (MEED 17:1:03).

Technical bids are under evaluation at NAT for four of the five main construction packages covering civil works, electro-mechanical installations, signalling and track laying. A total of 13 companies submitted technical bids for the four packages in March, with commercial offers to be followed in May.

On package five rolling stock for which bids are due to be submitted on 1 June, six companies have purchased bid documents. They are: France's Alstom; China International Trust & Investment Corporation (CITIC); Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain; Japan's Marubeni Corporation; Mitsubishi Corporation, also of Japan; and Germany's Siemens.

The 33-kilometre line 3 will link the western districts of Cairo with the international airport. The project will be carried out in four phases. Bidders are expected to bring project funding to the scheme.