CAIRO - 20 March 2026: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the 56.5 km East Nile monorail on Friday, launching a green transit link between Cairo and the New Capital.
The new line connects Nasr City to the New Capital. Following the opening, Sisi and families of fallen Egyptian soldiers boarded a train from the Al-Fattah Al-Alim Mosque station to the Financial District, passing through the R1 and R2 residential districts.
In a Friday statement, Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir described the monorail as a "civilizational leap" in Egyptian transportation. He noted that the project follows presidential directives to expand eco-friendly networks that reduce fuel consumption and traffic congestion on major axes.
The driverless system, running on rubber tires to minimize noise, consumes 30% less energy than traditional electric rail. Wazir highlighted that the monorail was designed for areas where building traditional metro lines is difficult, as its elevated tracks do not obstruct ground-level traffic.
Spanning 22 stations, the East Nile line integrates with Metro Line 3 at Cairo Stadium and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) at the Arts and Culture City. Future phases will connect with Metro Lines 4 and 6.
The project, executed by a French-Egyptian consortium including Alstom, Orascom, and Arab Contractors, features 40 trains with a top speed of 80 km/h. The interval between trains is only 90 seconds.
Stations are equipped with LED screens, platform screen doors for safety, and specialized accessibility features for people with disabilities. The monorail allows passengers to move from one carriage to the next for maximum convenience and safety.
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