The first stage of the LRT comprises 12 stations, including Adly Mansour, Badr City, the Culture and Arts City in the NAC, and New Obour, Minister of Transportation Kamel El-Wazir said during the inauguration event.
President El-Sisi took the train from Adly Mansour Interchange Station to Badr City Station.
Upon the completion of the three phases of the LRT, the service will cover a distance of 103.3 kilometres with the ability to accommodate up to one million commuters daily through 19 stations connecting several districts nationwide.
Furthermore, Each LRT train carriage can accommodate up to 300 passengers, with a total capacity of 1,300 passengers, El-Wazir told El-Sisi.
He also noted that the train tracks are secured by barbed wire fencing in both directions.
The 1.1 million square metre central Adly Mansour station, the largest in the Middle East, includes seven transport modes — namely the Cairo-Suez Railway Line, Cairo Metro’s third line, the LRT, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System, and the SuperJet buses that run along three lines nationwide.
The station was built as part of the country’s efforts to upgrade its transportation sector and encourage citizens to depend on environmentally friendly means of mass transportation, El-Wazir said, adding that the station includes four electric transportation modes.
The station, which is named after the country’s former interim president Adly Mansour (2013-2014), includes a full-service transportation complex and a commercial investment zone on a total area of 15 feddans.
El-Wazir said the LRT’s carriages offer a high level of railway security for commuters and feature WiFi services and on-board displays.
The LRT is a sustainable means of green mass transportation since it runs on electricity instead of diesel. The 22 trains of the LRT also include seats allocated for people with special needs, stressing that all the LRT’s stations are configured to facilitate access and movement for people with disabilities.
Furthermore, the minister noted that each train carriage includes seven surveillance cameras, as well as a telephone that can be used in the event of an emergency.
In addition to being linked to various means of transportation in Adly Mansour Interchange Station, the LRT will also intersect with Egypt’s under construction monorail at the Arts and Culture Centre Station in the NAC, along with Egypt’s first high-speed electric railway at an interchange station on the Cairo-Sokhna Highway.
The LRT is being constructed by the Ministry of Transportation and a consortium of 20 Egyptian companies along with 20 Chinese companies for supplying trains and systems.
The LRT Project is meant to serve new cities, including Obour, Shorouk, Badr, Mostakbal, 10th of Ramadan, and the NAC.
El-Wazir also clarified that a train will be departing from the Adly Mansour Interchange Station every three to five minutes, noting that the duration of the trip from the main station to the NAC will take no longer than 45 minutes.
In terms of ticket pricing, rides lasting three stops on the LRT will cost EGP 15, increasing by EGP 5 for every three-stop threshold passed thereafter, with rides lasting 12 stops — the total number of stations that have been finalised out of the 19 — costing EGP 35.
The minister noted that a unified ticket will be made for all means of transportation at Adly Mansour Interchange Station.
Meanwhile, the LRT’s SuperJet bus station — which is built on a total area of 1.5 feddans — includes a garage that can house up to 24 buses, including four electric buses that can accommodate up to 5,000 passengers, Chairperson of SuperJet Sabri Ayoub told El-Sisi during the tour.
He added that all the electric buses in the SuperJet station are fully produced by Egyptian companies, with a total of 60 percent of them made up of local components.
In his briefing, El-Wazir added that Cairo Metro’s Third Line starts from Adly Mansour Interchange Station, encompassing Rod El-Farag Axis in the north and Cairo University in the south with a total length of 41-42 kilometres, including 34 stations to commute 1.5 million passengers.
El-Sisi also gave directives on Sunday to start the experimental operation of the Safaa Hegazi Metro Station on the third line after El-Wazir announced the conclusion of work on the third phase of the line.
The Zamalek Metro Station was re-named the Safaa Hegazy Metro Station as a tribute to the renowned TV presenter who died in 2017.
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