Cairo has officially opened its first monorail route, a 56.5 km corridor with 22 stations, launched in the presence of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The system is expected to carry up to 500,000 passengers per day, adding a new high-capacity transit option to the city’s transport network.

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For the project, Alstom delivered a fleet of 40 Innovia 300 trains, each made up of four cars, along with the Cityflo 650 signalling system operating at GoA4 automation. The scope of supply also covered switches, depot systems, platform doors, and communication and energy infrastructure. These trains were manufactured at Alstom’s Derby facility in the UK.

From a design perspective, the train bodies use extruded aluminium panels, which are both corrosion-resistant and recyclable. This construction also allows the trains to be extremely flexible, allowing them to handle curves with a radius of 46 m and gradients of up to 6 per cent.

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The trains can run at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour and currently operate at intervals of around three minutes. Depending on demand, this gap could be shortened to 90 seconds.

The monorail is a part of an agreement that was signed in 2019, which stated it would cover the delivery of two lines and a total of 70 trains. The contract was awarded to a consortium led by Bombardier Transportation, which later became part of Alstom in 2021. The overall project value stands at EUR 4.1 billion, including a 30-year maintenance programme.

While both lines were initially targeted for completion in 2023, progress was affected by a mix of land-related constraints, technical issues, and disruptions in supply chains, leading to delays in delivery.

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