French president inspects Cairo's 3rd metro line

French President Francois Hollande on Monday inspected Haroun station of the Cairo's third metro line, currently being established in cooperation with the French government.

Egypt's Transport Minister Galal Saeed briefed Hollande on executive works currently being carried out in the third phase of the third line.

A joint venture led by Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics, and their Egyptian partners Orascom Construction and Arabco Contractors, has won the Phase 3 contract for Line 3 of the Cairo metro.

Hollande attended the official signing ceremony yesterday with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. 

The joint venture has been building the metro system since 1981.

The new $1.2 billion, 67-month contract covers civil engineering for Phase 3 of Line 3, including 17.7 km of new line and 15 stations (eight underground, five elevated and two at ground level).

The works will require construction of a new tunnel under the Nile. Once completed, Line 3 will increase the overall length of the Cairo metro system to 100 km and serve five million passengers daily.

Source: MENA)