The Cairo Monorail project is an elevated track monorail system being developed in Cairo, Egypt, to offer an efficient and sustainable mass transit option for the city and its surrounding metropolitan area.
The project will involve the construction of two monorail lines, which will create the first public transport connection from both New Capital City and the 6th of October City to the Greater Cairo area.
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An Alstom-led consortium, including Orascom Construction and the Arab Contractors, will design, construct, operate and maintain the two lines under a $4.5bn contract signed with Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) in August 2019. The consortium will offer operational and maintenance (O&M) services for both lines for 30 years.
The 54km line one, called the New Capital, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, while the 42km line two of the monorail project, called the 6th of October, is expected to be completed by 2025.
The two lines will provide much-needed transportation to the New Administrative Capital City and other important parts of Greater Cairo.
Funding
The consortium secured £1.7bn ($2bn) in funding from UK Export Finance to build two new monorails in Egypt in January 2021.
Global law firm White & Case has advised NAT on the financing for the project in Egypt.
Part of the project’s financing will be provided through a loan by Egypt’s New Urban Communities Authority with a repayment period of 14 years.
Cairo Monorail route and station details
The project consists of two lines: the New Capital, which links to emerging urban districts in the east such as New Cairo and the Administrative Capital and spans 54km with 22 stations, and the 6th of October, stretching 42km with 13 stations, serving the western bank of the Nile up to Giza. Its alignment stretches southwest, connecting the commercial Zamalek area, west of the Nile, to the new commercial, industrial and residential City of the 6th of October.
The New Capital line will extend from the stadium, connecting 7th District, the Administrative Capital. Air Hospital, Al Barwa, the Almasa Hotel, the American University, Cairo Festival, El Choueifat, Emaar,Free Zone, Hisham Barakat, Marshal Tantawy, Middle Ring Road, the Ministries (Al Wezarat) District, Mohammed Bin Zayed, Mohammed Naguib, Nafoura Square, Narjis District, Nouri Khattab and the Regional Ring Road.
The 6th of October City line will begin at Boulak (Gameat El Dewal), linking the Authority of Urban Communities, Dar El Fouad, Desert Road (Cairo/Alexandria), El Hosary, El Mansouria, El Marioutia, the High Speed Railway, Hyperone, the Industrial Zone, Jouhina and the Ring Road stops.
Rolling stock for Cairo Monorail
Cairo Monorail will utilise 70 fully-automated, driverless four-car Alstom INNOVIA™ 300 trains (a total of 280 cars). Made of extruded aluminium panels, the trains are corrosion-resistant and recyclable.
Rubber tyres will improve passenger comfort by reducing noise. The cars are designed with short headways and are capable of handling sharp curves of up to 46m radii and steep grades of 6%.
The train system includes advanced communication technology and intelligent power management for increased energy efficiency. The trains will operate at speeds of up to 80km/h on both lines.
INNOVIA™ 300 was selected based on its suitability for congested cities and flagship performance in driverless operations. A trial run of the INNOVIA™ 300 monorail train from the New Capital City depot to station 22 was completed in November 2022. The trains are currently operating in Sao Paulo, Brazil and will be implemented in Bangkok, Thailand and Wuhu, China.
Signalling and communication
The Innovia™ 300 monorail system will feature Alstom’s Cityflo™ 650 communications-based train control solution, which offers numerous advantages such as enhanced reliability, adaptable operations, reduced intervals between trains, heightened safety and minimised maintenance expenses.
The Cityflo™ 650 signalling and automatic train control technology are designed to offer driverless train operations or unattended train operations using moving block technology.
It will also feature an operations control centre and communication systems, in addition to other electrical and mechanical equipment such as platform screen doors and fare collection, power supply and distribution systems, switch beams and depot equipment.
The project will use ALTPRO axle counters, a unique infrastructure signalling system, for enhanced reliability and safety in controlling and detecting non-standard trains.
Ridership
Cairo Monorail will have the capacity to transport 45,000 passengers per hour in each direction at full capacity.
Travel time will be 60 minutes for the 54km New Administrative City line and 42 minutes for the 42km 6th of October City line.
Contractors involved
Sener, an engineering company, in partnership with the Shaker Consultancy Group, will design the project for Orascom and the Arab Contractors, covering special bridges, architecture, electromechanical systems and system security.
Innova Technologies, a speciality structural engineering company based in the US, is assisting Orascom Construction and the Arab Contractors with alignment design, logistic beam fabrication, construction engineering and structural calculations for the project. They also provide design support for various components, such as emergency walkways, track switches, station guideway beams and depot guideway beams.
Innova Transportation, Orascom Construction and the Arab Contractors won The Big 5 Egypt Impact Awards Infrastructure Project of the Year 2021 for the Cairo Monorail Structures project in June 2021.
Hill International, a construction consulting company based in the US, is providing project management services.
ALTPRO, a Croatian provider of safety-critical signalling systems, will supply systems for railway infrastructure and vehicles.
Indra, a technology and consultancy company from Spain, will design, develop and supply ticketing and access control systems for two Cairo Monorail lines using QR codes and mobile phones.
ESPT, a BBR Network member, will focus on post-tensioning services for stations.
Schindler, a Swiss elevator manufacturer, will deliver, install and maintain 136 elevators and 272 escalators for the project.
AKKA Technologies, a European engineering consulting and research and development services provider, will support Alstom’s Cairo Monorail line infrastructure project, focusing on aspects including systems assurance, reliability and safety.
Elsewedy Electric PSP, an Egyptian EPC contractor, signed a subcontracting deal with Alstom for the construction of the power rail and signalling for the New Administrative Capital City Line.
LS Electric, a subsidiary of AEG Power Solutions, will provide reliable power for Cairo Monorail stations using Protect 4 and 8 AC UPS systems and Protect RCS TPRe DC rectifiers.
Fugro, a Dutch geotechnical and surveying services provider, has been awarded a geophysical and geotechnical study contract for the second phase of the Cairo Monorail megaproject.
CHRYSO, a French construction chemicals company, is supplying 700,000m³ of concrete for the Monorail project utilising innovative solutions such as ClearTest® to address environmental challenges and ensure stable concrete quality.
Touchplan, a software company based in the US, will use its platform to reduce traffic congestion and environmental impact on the project.
Dextra provided 300,000 Bartec standard and bridging couplers designed for linking two reinforcement bars together for the project, while Casagrande’s B400 XP-2 multifunction rigs are being used for the construction works.
