Egypt's Underground Metro Company is implementing a new system of colour-coded metro tickets with the start of the new school year, the company's spokesperson Ahmed Abdel-Hady announced on Saturday, according to state news agency MENA.

The move is meant to reduce instances of passengers taking advantage of cheaper tickets set aside for certain segments of the population.

Abdel-Hady said that the regular ticket, which costs EGP 2, will still be yellow.

A green ticket priced at EGP 1.50 will be available for army and police members, children between four and 10, members of the press syndicate, and members of the veteran warriors association.

A rose-coloured EGP 1.50 ticket will be available for senior citizens and a brown EGP 0.50 ticket will be available for passengers with special needs.

The price of Egypt's standard single-fare Metro ticket was doubled to  EGP 2 in March.

The tickets are expected to see a gradual increase reaching up to EGP 4 by the last quarter of 2018.

Over 3.5 million of Greater Cairo's 21 million inhabitants rely on the Metro for their daily travel as one of the fastest and cheapest means of transportation in the city, according to estimates by the country's national tunnels authority.

Cairo’s underground system, launched in 1987, is one of the oldest in the Middle East and Africa.