Work on Egypt’s first monorail train that connects the new administrative capital to various parts of Cairo is picking up as Egypt’s Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir announced on Tuesday that the first monorail train has arrived at Alexandria Port.

El-Wazir emphasized the quick pace of construction of the monorail is necessary as it represents a quantum shift in urban transportation in Egypt.

There are currently two monorail projects underway in Egypt - one connects the administrative capital to Nasr City neighborhood over a 56.5 km stretch of road while the other connects the sixth of October city to the Arab League headquarters in downtown Cairo in a route that is 42 km long.

Both monorails are connected to Cairo’s third metro line in a bid to reduce the commutes from Cairo and Giza to the administrative capital to the shortest time possible as both monorail projects take less than 60 minutes to trot through the entire line.

The monorail project is entirely autonomous and features screen doors placed on the platform to conserve energy and to ensure the safety of the passengers in addition to the monorail being constructed entirely from aluminum to save weight and increase speed.

The administrative capital monorail is 21.2 percent complete as of July as the first phase is projected for release by late May of 2022 while the second phase should be done by February 2023, Egypt’s Cabinet said last month.

As for the sixth of October line, it is expected to be ready for passengers by June of 2023.