Cairo Metro

The Cairo Metro (Arabic مترو أنفاق القاهرة, DMG MiTru anfāq al - qāhira ) in Egypt's capital Cairo is the only fully developed metro system in Africa. Currently, there are three lines in operation, the third subway line is opened only on a small portion. All lines sail the standard gauge of 1435 mm.

Stretch

Line 1

In the early 1970s the traffic problems in the Egyptian capital, Cairo became more serious. Miles and miles of traffic jams were not uncommon. Thus, a subway expansion plan by the Egyptian government in 1973 decided. This initially looked for a system of three lines, of which two were previously built.

Line 1 (Red Line ), opened in 1987, is actually composed of three parts, two suburban railway lines and a long tunnel piece in the center of the city. The line 1 is used significantly more than previously only other line and connects the industrial site Helwan in the south and the populous suburbs of El Marg to the north. The railway lines which have been integrated into the U -Bahn line, had in 1971 a share of 81 % on the Rail suburban services. On the technical side the track belongs to the network of the Egyptian railway, found here but also freight instead. Other passenger trains do not go here. The southern railway line to Helwan was opened in 1877 as State Railways. 1888, the line was privatized and operated by the Society of the Brothers Suares. One year later trassierte will re-route now led parallel to the Nile in the southern part of downtown Cairo. There they even got its own railhead. Ever since then, there are projects that North and to connect the southern line, as was done by the construction of the subway. A first application of Suares Society for the construction of such a connector is dismissed in March 1890. 1904 again changed the society, now Delta Railways until it was nationalized in 1916. 1956 electrified the Egyptian State Railways route, which was a special feature in the still steam operated railway network.

Line 1 was completed in three steps: in 1982 began the first construction, on 27 September 1987 ( Mubarak then) underground tunnel piece was of central Cairo, Al Sayyida Zeinab Shohadaa after opened. This included also the conversion of the southern railway line on metro operation. 4.8 km new railway line were to build 22.5 kilometers belonged to the existing line. On 12 April 1989, the northern railway line was finally able to be converted. These ranged from the station Al Shohadaa to El Marg 15.4 km long was the new line to be opened. In May 1999, nor was added a station. It the single-track operation of El Marg to New El Marg was taken. This route is a total of 1.3 km long. Nevertheless, end even today many trains on the previous terminus El Marg Overall, the route of line 1 is about 44 kilometers long and has 35 stations. Almost all stations have side platforms, which are up to 197 meters long. The maximum capacity of the facility is two million passengers per day, currently using about 1.4 million passengers line 1 per day. The maximum line speed is 100 km / h at peak times is moved to a 210 -second cycle. Would be technically possible, however, even a 150 -second cycle. In order to achieve rapid clearance, the trains are busy at both ends with staff. The line 1, which is similar by their relatively high station distances and route speeds rather an S -Bahn, is colloquially known as the "French Line" ( French Line ). The reason is that the vehicles have been designed on this route from the French rail manufacturer Alstom.

Line 2

After the expansion plan of 1973, the line should run 2 from the northern El Mazallat to situated in the south Cairo University. The track length should be 13.5 km. After some negotiation we expanded the plans to the north by 2.5 km to Shubra el Kaema and 3 km to Um el Mesrien (including Giza Suburbs ). The line was built from scratch, that is not how the first line on existing routes. The first construction work began on June 12, 1993 in five stages of expansion, the line reached its present state. :

Today the line is 2 about 22 km long and has 20 stations. On the stretch of El Behous - Al Shohadaa the metro runs underground. Here was also the first Nile crossing under in Africa, for which the slit design was applied because the soil is here largely of rubble and heterogeneous deposits of the river. To avoid flooding, erected tunnel exterior walls with 1 to 2 meters thick concrete specialty. The sole of the tunnel is about 30 feet below the ground. In the northern part of the metro passes over a viaduct route and ends at Shubra el Kheima ground-level railway station, where there is also the depot of the line 2. In the south the line 2 runs parallel to Niltaleisenbahnstrecke that leads to Upper Egypt. It also emerged two interchange stations for long-distance train. As with the line 1 to line 2, there are almost only side platforms that are here 144 feet long. The maximum line capacity is 1.85 million passengers per day at speeds of up to 80 km / h and a 105 -second cycle. Approximately 1.2 million passengers are carried daily, the minimum cycle time is it three minutes. The construction costs for the entire line, which is also due to the trains coming from Japan, " Japan -Line" (Japanese line) is called, amounted to about 2 billion U.S. dollars.

Line 3

After several announcements, the opening of the first section of Line 3 is carried out according to press reports, on February 21, 2012. It includes the stations Attaba ( transition to line 2), Bab el- Shaaria, El Gheish, Abdou Pasha and Abbasiya and should be continued until the Cairo International Airport. According to the decision of the Egyptian Cabinet on 22 February 2012, the new line will get the "Revolution line". The previous construction costs amounted to approximately € 4.2 billion EGP or the equivalent of about 580 million euros. After completion of the second phase of Abbasiya to Ahram Square in Heliopolis 3 up to 2 million passengers daily average of 600,000 passengers, after completion of all three phases of construction (approx. 2016/2017 ) on all sections of the line expected daily.

The entire route of the line 3 should be 34.2 km long and have 29 stations. In contrast to the other two routes, this line should be completely underground. Construction of the line is provided in 4 steps:

• Level 1: Attaba - Abbassia, 4.3 km and 5 stations (completion early 2012 )
• Level 2: Abbasia - Al Ahram, 6.2 km and 4 stations (completed in October 2013 planned)
• Level 3: Attaba - Imbaba / Mohandesseen 11.6 km and 12 stations ( duration 3 years)
• Level 4: Al Ahram - Cairo International Airport, 12.1 km and 8 stations ( Duration 4 years)

The structurally most challenging task is the under-crossing of the Nile ( between the stations on the eastern shore Boulaq and Kit Kat ' on the west bank, with the intermediate stop Zamalek on Gezira Island ) in the development stage 3

The plan is a total construction period of ten to twelve years, which can be achieved by an overlap of the construction stages. Passenger forecasts assume in the overall completion of the distance of about 1.8 million passengers daily. In terms of technology, the Line 3 Line 2 is very similar, as they should be operated by power rail. Cost estimates for the construction stages 1 and 2 of about 4430 million Egyptian pounds (around 575.9 million euros ). The European and Japanese Development Bank have pledged financial cooperation. Two consortia led by the rail vehicle group Alstom provide for the first 4.3 km long section between Attaba and Abbassia signaling, communication and electromechanical equipment.

Technology

Line 1 shows their relationship to the railroad significantly to the power supply by pantograph and overhead lines. On this line three -car trains come in assortment railcars Sidecar railcars used, which were supplied by the French rail manufacturer Alstom. A total of 100 units were in the years 1983 and 1984, ie before the opening of the subway, delivered to the Egyptian State Railways. However, this had no experience with the maintenance, which is why the trains were initially maintained by Alstom. In the years 1993, 1994 and 1999, the company Semaf provided further 39 identical three units. In all trains on Line 1 is found cross style, ie 2 2 across the street. There are both units that are equipped with air conditioning, as well as those with fans. Currently, there are 139 train units.

Technically, there are significant differences between lines 1 and 2 In line 2, the current decrease and return of power by rail is what already is more like a typical subway. The trains were developed by Kinki Sharyo and the companies Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Semaf and produced. Only 6-car units were delivered, which consist of two end- and four intermediate cars. After the opening of the first four stages of construction was extended to these two intermediate cars, so that the full length of the platform could be exploited. Annual vehicle deliveries took place in the years 1995-2000. Today there are a total of 35 units. In March 2004, the Egyptian Ministry of Information announced that for the equivalent of 73.12 million euros seven additional trains will be ordered. Another difference from the line 1 is that here no transverse seating, but longitudinal seats were installed. All units are air-conditioned.

Operation

Although the Cairo Metro has arisen from the railway, there is, as almost everywhere in the subways in the world, only one car class. Previously, the first carriage of a train on all routes Kairos was reserved for women, now there is in the central part of the two-car train sets with red marking ( only for women) and two with green marking. These are during the day available for women only, the fifth car from 20 clock but also for men. In addition, show blue signs with pictograms on the platforms at the exact breakpoint of this car. On the platform arrows are attached, so that waiting passengers can immediately see where they have to get in because the trains stop exactly on the platform that the doors of the train adhere strictly to these arrows and there are no unnecessary crowding. In practice, this entry and exit system, however, can not prove.

In contrast to the other modes of transportation in the Cairo area, the Metro is different especially in terms of cleanliness, security and order. Each station - which is signposted in both Arabic and English - is staffed, a subway patrol ensures that no graffiti or anything perpetrated there. They control and put way too critisim one rule by. The ticketing system is very similar to the Paris Métro; the passenger buys a ticket provided with a magnetic strip and must pull it through the existing at each curfew, the card goes for a drive with Umsteigeberechtigung. The cards can be bought at ticket counters, there are no vending machines. A single ticket currently costs 1 LE. The operating times for both lines are daily 5-24 clock.

Despite the long station spacing the load of the two metro lines is relatively high, you can compare it with the Latin American metro system in Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile and Mexico City. About 20 per cent of all motorized trips in the Cairo metropolitan area falling on the metro system. In 2004, a total of 949 million passengers were transported.

Further expansion

The original expansion plan of 1973 provided, as already mentioned, only three lines before. The third line should run from the eastern Darassa under the Nile and the city center by Western to the Imbaba. The existing lines should be crossed at the stations Attaba ( line 2) and Nasser ( line 1).

Since in the following years due to other priorities and changes in the Cairo area, the situation changed in 1998, the " Greater Cairo Public Transport Study " was developed and introduced in 2000. The construction plans with the horizon in 2022 provide in addition to the existing lines four others. Although the route of line 3 was essentially unchanged, there were minor changes. In the east, the metro line 3 will now connect the Cairo Airport, to the west branches off from the main line a 3.6 km long branch after Mohandesseen from.

In addition to the line 3, three different lines are provided in the study:

• Line 4: Nasr City - Abbassia - Giza - El Haram ( approximately 24 km)
• Line 5: Nasr City - Heliopolis - Shubra el Keima ( approximately 19 km)
• Line 6: Maadi - old city center - Shubra El Kheima ( approximately 21 km)

Through the construction of these lines which although very shrunken, but still partially very efficient tram network will get in Heliopolis great competition. Although letters of intent for the reconstruction of the tram have been issued, but are willing to put in the planned routes much in question.