El-Wazir made the announcement during a press conference held to  review plans to provide transportation for government employees at the New Administrative Capital (NAC), according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

The minister did not specify a date for the implementation of the new tier.

Some 30,000 state employees are set to be relocated to the new capital by the beginning of March, according to government plans.

Since 2018, Egypt implemented a new pricing system based on the distance travelled by passengers on the metro.

In August 2020, the government raised the ticket price to EGP 5 for passengers travelling eight stops or less, EGP 7 for those travelling nine to 15 stops, and EGP 10 for those travelling 16 stop or more.

Government officials said at the time that higher metro fares were necessary to keep the service operating and to finance extensions to the metro system, which serves more than 3.5 million people daily in the Greater Cairo area.

In December 2022, Egypt signed a $301 million loan agreement with Japan to built the fourth metro line.

The Cairo Metro serves as one of the main transportation modes for those who commute to the NAC, El-Wazir said during today's presser.

The country's first monorail, the light rail transit (LRT), and a range of buses, including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), also transport commuters to the NAC, he added.