The Ministry of Transport is seeking presidential approval to request a Japanese loan to finance the first phase of a planned fourth subway line, an official ministry source said. Construction on the project’s first phase–expected to cost an estimated US$1.5 billion–will likely launch next July.
The source also said the National Authority for Tunnels is nearing completion of feasibility studies on the plans. The line is expected to extend from Malek Saleh station to near Dream Land in 6th of October. Construction will last an estimated four years, according to the source.
Japan’s International Cooperation Agency, the body the Transport Ministry hopes will finance the project, highlighted a number of potential difficulties that might face work at Malek Saleh station. The line schematic crosses under the Nile, and Giza Square where the Giza bridge’s structure runs deep underground.
The source also confirmed the French company currently working on the third line (Attaba-Abbassiya) did not pay due attention to the fragile condition of the soil at the project’s site and failed to take sufficient safety precautions leading to multiple sinkholes last year.
Translated from the Arabic Editoin.
