Cairo's third metro line, which was disrupted following an accident, is now fully operational, the transport minister said on Wednesday.

An empty train derailed on Sunday and crashed into a wall near Abbasiya station, seriously injuring its driver.

The minister inspected safety equipment on trains and in Abbasiya station before resuming operations, according to state news agency MENA.

Workers on the third line staged a strike in the wake of the incident in solidarity with their injured colleague as unconfirmed reports blamed him for the incident.

Head of the metro operations company later said that the train experienced technical problems, and investigations revealed that he had tried several methods to stop the train before it crashed.

The third line, which currently connects downtown Attaba station with Al-Ahram in upscale Heliopolis, partially resumed operations Monday evening. Trains ran separately between stations before and after Abbasiya without connecting through it.

At least 3.5 million people use the metro on a daily basis in Egypt's capital, according to the State Information Service.

Metro transportation is one of the fastest and cheapest means of transportation in Cairo for struggling working class people and middle income layers of the population.

A ticket costs LE1, which is equivalent to US13 cents.

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