Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat presented a proposal to the Cabinet on Tuesday to double the value of the Cairo Metro ticket to LE2, government sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The Cabinet approved the increase in principle and asked the minister to present the proposal to the Parliament's Transport Committee as a solution to the subway facility's chronic problems.
The Metro has endured losses of LE500 million over the past three years, the sources said, adding that if the situation continues as it is, Metro services would have to be suspended.
Arafat said at a press conference on Tuesday evening that the Cabinet discussed the situation of public transport, especially the Metro which provides service to 3 million citizens and has been facing obstacles since 2011.
By June 30, the fourth phase of the third Metro line will be launched, which will increase the number of Metro users by 2 million citizens, said the minister.
Arafat stressed the need to develop the first metro line, which will cost €300 million, adding that the second line also needs more carriages due to the high number of users.
The Metro owes the Electricity Ministry LE220 million, said Arafat.
The percentage of Metro users who evaded paying for tickets does not currently exceed 7 percent, the minister mentioned.
