A member of the House of Representatives Haitham al-Hariri submitted an early day motion (EDM) to Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal on Sunday requesting a briefing on the government’s decision to cancel the monorail project in Alexandria.
“The government announced several months ago the implementation of the monorail project and a loan of up to seven billion LE was approved to implement this project, and I was surprised that a few days ago the government announced the cancellation of this project and the start of a new one,” Hariri said in the request for briefing.
He added, “We are in favor of developing all public transportation used by the majority of the people of Alexandria, and I request a discussion of the request for briefing, an explanation of the reasons behind canceling the monorail project and clarifying the economic feasibility and implementation plan of this new project.”
The Redcon Construction company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Transport Ministry last year to implement the monorail project in Alexandria, which was to begin on February 2020.
The Sada al-Balad news website stated that the Alexandria Public Transport Authority announced in January that the monorail project was cancelled, with instead beginning for another alternative project related to the development of the current tram.
The website reported the head of the Alexandria Public Transport Authority in Alexandria Ali Saqr saying that the decision to cancel the monorail project came in view of the high costs required to set up the project compared to its feasibility on the ground, as it serves a small group of society for a very high ticket price and soaring maintenance costs.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
