The Cairo Metro: how Africa’s first full metro moves a megacity

The Cairo Metro serves Greater Cairo, a metropolitan area of more than 20 million people. Its first line opened in 1987, and it is often described as the first full metro system in Africa.

From Helwan to Ramses Square

That first segment of Line 1 ran 29 kilometres from Helwan to Ramses Square. Construction had begun in 1982, after the French government agreed to give Egypt the necessary loan, and the line was later extended northwards to El Marg.

More lines

Line 2 first opened in 1996, and the first section of Line 3, from Attaba to Abbassia, opened on 21 February 2012.

The network is owned by the National Authority for Tunnels, while Lines 1 and 2 are run by the Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation.

Each train reserves cars for women, and the network carries millions of passengers every day.