Cairo prepares for Metro Line 6

China to construct Cairo's sixth metro line.

The China Railway Construction Corporation is to build Cairo's metro Line 6, according to an announcement by Egypt's transport ministry.

Although a memorandum of understanding has been signed the Egyptian government is apparently still in negotiations with the Chinese company in relation to the financing of the $3.5 billion project.

The 24-km track is expected to run from Shubra in the north to the Maadi and Helwan districts in the south, interconnecting with Lines 2, 3 and 4 at various points along the way.

The news follows approval of a €200 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) towards the third phase of Cairo's metro Line 3, which currently runs from Attaba in east central Cairo to Ahram in the northeast. Under the expansion plans, the line will be extended further northeast to serve Cairo International Airport.

In June Cairo introduced a new smart card system for its metro network whose trains are used by more than 2.4 million passengers a day.