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Cairo Metro Line 6 was handed over to the Egyptian government on the opening day of the 6th Smart Transport, Logistics and Industry Exhibition and Conference (TransMEA 2025), held under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The ceremony was attended by Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport; Éric Chevallier, Ambassador of France to Egypt; and Tarek Goweily, Chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT).
In November 2022, France’s Alstom had signed a framework agreement with NAT to design, build and maintain the Cairo Metro line 6.
An official statement said Line 6 spans 38.1 kilometres, comprising 1 km at-grade, 19 km elevated, and 17.9 km underground, with 26 stations stretching from Khosos in the north to New Maadi in the south, including a southern branch to Tora El-Balad.
The project will feature a central maintenance depot on 75 feddans in Zahraa El-Maadi and a light maintenance depot on 20 feddans in Khosos.
The new line will integrate with Cairo’s existing and planned rail network, interchanging with:
* Line 1 at El-Demerdash and Tora El-Balad stations
* Line 3 at Abbassia
* Phase 2 of Line 4 at Sayeda Aisha
El-Wazir added that President El-Sisi has approved studies for the second phase of Line 6, which will extend 17 km southward along Ain Sokhna Road to Talaat Harb and Mohamed Naguib axes for connection with the high-speed rail network, and 6 km northward to Al-Narges Station for monorail integration.
In line with Egypt’s push for industrial localisation, El-Wazir announced that all rolling stock and system components for Line 6 will be manufactured locally at Alstom’s Industrial Complex in Borg El-Arab, Alexandria.
The 40-feddan facility comprises two major factories: one producing electrical and railway components such as signalling systems, control panels, and wiring; and another dedicated to rolling stock manufacturing, including metro cars, trams, and high-speed trains.
Alstom had announced in November 2022 that it will supply 294 Metropolis cars for Line 6, which would be the first driverless metro in Africa.
(Writing by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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