The Egyptian authorities have opened a new 7.2km of section of Line 3 of the Cairo metro serving five new stations in the eastern part of the city.
The Phase 2 civil engineering project, led by Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics, a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, and their Egyptian partners Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors, got under way in May 2009.
The project, which was handed over five months ahead of schedule on 7 May, employed more than 3,000 Egyptian workers, the companies said.
Vinci and Bouygues have been involved with the Cairo metro since signing the contract to build Line 1 in 1981.
Developed in phases, Line 3 of the metro will ultimately cross the Egyptian capital east to west, connecting the airport with the districts west of the Nile over a distance of nearly 40km.
It is part of the large-scale plan designed to relieve traffic and limit pollution in Cairo, North Africa’s largest metropolitan area.
Electromechanical works for the Line 3 Phase 2 was conducted by COLAS Rail, Alstom, Thales, Arab Contractors and Orascom.
ETF, a subsidiary of Vinci subsidiary Eurovia, and Orascom laid the track while signalling-automation was done by Alstom and Thales.
