EMU for Cairo Metro Line No. 3 (Al Thawra Line)

Manufacturer	Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd.
Built for	National Authority for Tunnels
Route	Cairo Metro Line No. 3 (Al Thawra Line)
Product type	EMU
Year ordered, delivered or shipped	Ordered March 2008, shipped November 2010
Launch of commercial operations	February 2012

　In Egypt’s capital city of Cairo, the flow of population into urban districts has led to chronic traffic congestion that is causing serious problems for society. Consequently, development of the mass transit system has become an urgent task. With Line No. 1 and No. 2 of the Cairo Metro boasting one of the highest passenger levels in the world (2.5 million riders per day), National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) made plans for the creation of Line No. 3, or Al Thawra Line which was named after the democracy revolution in 2011.

In this project, Kinki Sharyo is in charge of car manufacturing. The company has a track record of delivering over 1,500 cars in Egypt over the past 50 years, and it has a strong reputation for its technology and reliability. In Phase 1, operation began over a section of approximately 4.3 km. In Phases 2 to 4, there are plans to gradually extend the length over a distance of approximately 34 km, running from Cairo International Airport to stations across the Nile River. The result will be a comfortable urban transportation resource in which the Cairo Metro Network connects the airport directly to the city center. In an effort to raise the level of customer service, these are the first Cairo Metro cars with air conditioners installed in passenger compartment.

For Phase 1, the nine trains with 72 cars were manufactured in Japan, but from Phase 2 onward (seven trains with 56 cars), the manufacturing will be done by local railcar manufacturer Semaf, with all parties involved cooperating in the effort.