President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the East Nile Monorail Project on 20 March, one of the country’s most important green and smart transport projects and representing a key strategic step towards developing the mass transit system.
The project aims to connect Greater Cairo with the New Capital, thereby facilitating mobility and supporting urban expansion plans. It was implemented within the framework of presidential directives to expand Egypt’s network of sustainable and environmentally friendly green mass transit systems.
Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir said that the project represents a major step in mass transportation in Egypt. The monorail is a fast, modern, and safe mode of transport that saves fuel consumption, reduces environmental pollution, and eases traffic congestion, he said.
The monorail consumes 30 per cent less energy than other electric rail traction systems, in addition to reducing noise because the trains run on rubber tyres. It can be constructed on streets having large horizontal curves, and it does not require many utility modifications.
“The monorail is built on an elevated track along the central area of the streets it passes through, and it does not occupy any part of the roadway, which means traffic flow is not affected,” Al-Wazir said.
He added that the trains operate without a driver and that the headway will be three minutes, with plans to reduce it to 90 seconds as demand increases. The journey from the Cairo Stadium to the New Capital is about 70 minutes.
He added that for the first time screen doors have been installed on the platforms in front of the train doors to ensure passenger safety. Safe connecting passages allow passengers to move between carriages for greater comfort.
Inside the carriages, there are LED screens to provide passengers with journey information or to be used commercially for advertisements. There is also a screen above the side doors to inform passengers of the final station.
Spaces have been designated for wheelchairs for persons with disabilities, and the carriages have also been fitted with route maps above the interior passenger doors, using illuminated lights to help those with hearing impairments.
Al-Wazir said that the project has contributed to creating 15,000 direct job opportunities for the design and implementation of civil and electromechanical work, as well as about 10,000 indirect job opportunities in industries and services related to it.
The East Nile Monorail intersects with Metro Line Three at the Cairo Stadium Station in Nasr City, with the Light Rail Transit (LRT) at the Arts and Culture City Station in the New Administrative Capital, and in the future will join the second phase of Metro Line Four at the Hisham Barakat Station in Nasr City and Metro Line Six at the Al-Narges Station in New Cairo.
Al-Wazir said that the project includes 40 trains operating at a speed of 80 km/h, with each train consisting of four carriages. It has a capacity of 45,000 passengers per hour in each direction in order to serve the urban expansion of the New Capital and the growing number of daily commuters.
The project’s capacity upon completion will be 500,000 passengers per day.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 March, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: