The Cairo Metro (, <!------Please note: this is a standard transliteration of the Arabic letters, reflecting Standard Arabic, and not intended to be a pronunciation guide.-------> lit. "Cairo Tunnel Metro" or ) is a rapid transit system in Greater Cairo, Egypt. It was the first of the three full-fledged metro systems in Africa and the first in the Middle East to be constructed. It was opened in 1987 as Line 1 from Helwan to Ramses Square with a length of .
As of 2013, the metro carried nearly 4 million passengers per day. As of 15 May 2024, the Cairo Metro has 84 stations In 1999, New El Marg station was added to the northern end of the line, bringing its total length to 44 km.
Cairo's metro network was greatly expanded in the mid-1990s with the building of Line 2, from Shoubra El Kheima to Cairo University, with an extension to Giza. The line includes the first tunnel under the Nile. The construction of the line was finished in October 2000, and it was later extended to El Mounib. (the 5th car becomes mixed-use after 21:00). There are blue signs (pink on the first and second lines) at every station that signify the position of these cars. These cars are used as an option for women who do not wish to ride with men in the same car; however, women can still ride other cars freely. This policy was introduced to the protection of women from sexual harassment by men.
Cairo Metro operates from 05:00 to 01:00 (except during Ramadan, when it operates from 05:00 to 02:00), with the remaining hours reserved for maintenance work.
The ticket price was £E1 for each journey, regardless of distance. The Ministry of Transportation agreed to double the ticket prices, starting from Friday 24 March 2017, costing £E2 for the normal ticket£, E1.5 for the ticket of the minor£, E1 for the special needs ticket after formerly costing £E1£, E0.75 and £E0.5, respectively. Again on 10 May 2018, the ministry of transportation agreed to raise the ticket prices to be £E3 for 9 stops£, E5 for 16 stops and £E7 for more than 16 stops. As of July 2020, 9 stops cost £E5, 16 stops cost £E7, and rides exceeding 16 stops cost £E10. In 2025 the ticket prices increased to be £E8 for 9 stops, £E10 for 16 stops£, E15 for 23 stops, and £E20 for more than 23 stops. Starting March 27th, 2026, the Ministry of Transport has raised the prices for shorter routes, with up to 9 stops now costing £E10 and up to 16 stops costing £E12. The prices for up to 23 stops and more than 23 stops remains unchanged, sitting at £E15 and £E20, respectively.
Network
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; height:230px;"
|-
! Line
! Termini
! Opened
! Latest<br />extension
! Length
! Stations
|-
|
| New Marg – Helwan
| 1987
| 1999
|
| 35
|-
|
| Shubra Al Khaimah – El Monib
| 1996
| 2005
|
| 20
|-
|
| Rod El Farag Corridor/Cairo University – Adly Mansour
| 2012
| 2024
|
| 34
|- class=sortbottom
| colspan="4" | Total:
|
| 84
|}
Line 1
Line 1 (blue) is the oldest line of the Cairo Metro and the first metro to open in Africa and the Middle East, with its first segment having opened in 1987.
Line 1 has a train driving simulator supplied by Transurb Technirail that won the international tender issued by Cairo Metro in 2011.
Line 2
Line 2 (red) is the second line of the Cairo Metro, first opening in 1996. The line is long, of which are in tunnels. It serves 20 stations, of which 12 are underground.
The minimum headway for the line is 2.7 to 3 minutes.
Line 2 has a simulator installed in Shubra since 2002 which was delivered by French company CORYS.
The first tunnel to be built under the Nile River carries Line 2 across the river.
Line 3
Line 3 (green) is the newest line. Its first section opened in 2012. It operates from Rod El-Farag Corridor and Cairo University to Adly Mansour, where it connects to the Cairo Light Rail Transit. Eventually, it will be extended to Cairo International Airport. The line crosses under the two branches of the River Nile, as does Line 2. The total length of the line will be approximately , most of which are in the bored tunnel, and will be implemented in four phases.
Phase 1 from Attaba station to Abbassia station opened on 21 February 2012, with five stations and a total length of . Phase 2 to Al Ahram Station was opened on 7 May 2014, with four additional stations and an added length of , Phase 3A from Attaba station to Kit Kat station opened in October 2022. Phase 3B from Kit Kat station to Rod El-Farag Corridor station opened in January 2024, adding six more stations and . and began revenue service on 1 January 2024. Phase 3C from Kit Kat to Cairo University was opened on 15 May 2024.
Proposed lines
center|thumb|600px|Cairo Metro, LRT, and monorail expansion plans
Line 4 (Hadayek El Ashgar - El Rehab)
Line 4 is planned to run from Haram District to the New Cairo district, connecting Greater Cairo from West to East. It will cross the two branches of the Nile river and have a total length of .
Phase 1 (west) of the project will run from El-Malek El-Saleh Station (Interchange with Line 1) to the October-Oasis Highway Station with a total length of 18 km, passing through Giza Railway Station (Interchange with Line 2); the original plan for phase 1 was for it to start from El-Malek El-Saleh Station and end at the Grand Egyptian Museum Station with a total length of 10 km, but the Ministry of Roads & Transportation decided to extend the Line in their efforts to further connect the city of 6 October to the Greater Cairo Area; Phase 1 also includes the plan to connect the end of Line 4 to the suburbs of 6 October mainly through executing The October 6th Tram system (The O6T) which will be by using a tram-train system supplied with the Alstom Regio-Citadis trams. This phase will have 15 stations to be constructed with a duration of 6.5 years.
Phase 2 will begin from El-Malek El-Saleh Station, passing east through Magra El-Oyoun street and Salah El-Din Citadel in Salah Salem street and ending at the 6th District Station (beginning of Nasr City district) with a completion date set at October 2018.
Phase 4, the final phase, will begin from Makram Ebeid Station with bored tunnels following Doctor Hassan El-Sherif street and Ahmed El-Zomor street, ending at Police Academy Station near the Ring Road.
Cairo International Airport Line 3 extension
Line 3 Phase 4C is proposed to start from Heliopolis station passing through Al-Hegaz Square and Military Academy area to Sheraton District and after ending at Cairo International Airport. If built, it would have five tunnel stations. There is no proposed completion date for this phase.
Long-term plans
A transportation study of the Greater Cairo region was completed in 1999. It recommended the implementation of a six-line system consisting of lines 1, 2 and 3 (existing); and lines 4, 5 and 6. The completed Metro Network would be capable of serving most of the densely populated areas in the Greater Cairo region, which was much in need of a comprehensive mass transit system. The plans include interchange stations between the six metro lines and would also provides interchange facilities with existing main railway stations, the airport, and bus stations.
The six planned metro lines aim to meet the transportation demands of the Greater Cairo area up to the year 2032. However, the actual construction and implementation schedule will be restricted by available funding, and the timetable will likely slip.
Line 5 would be a half-circular line connecting lines 1–4 in northern Cairo, running from Nasr City in the east to Port Said Street and Shubra El Kheima in the west. It would have a length of , entirely within bored tunnels. The Line 5 project was scrapped since its route resembles that of the newly constructed BRT system.
Line 6 would be a north–south line, from Shubra in the north to the Maadi and Tura districts in the south. It would run from Khosuos Station through El Kalaa street in bored tunnels to Salah Eldin Citadel Station (Interchange with Line 4) and move on from there to both districts via bored tunnels using the existing route El-Mahager Railway as a guide through both Maadi and Helwan. This Line has a length of .