1001 Smart Cities
🇪🇬 Cairo

Cairo Monorail: the East Nile Line to the New Capital

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 3 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

3 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Updated 20 Aug 2026 Publication date recorded for 9 sources. What changed →

The much-quoted 45,000 passengers per hour per direction is a design figure. No ridership has been published, and Al Jazeera found the trains sparsely used in June 2026.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Officialgrades the sourcing — this entry states no impact figure
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byNational Authority for Tunnels (owner); Alstom, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors consortium under a 30-year O&M contract
Scale🗺️ Regional
Cost≈$4.5bn (2019 contract value, both lines, including 30 years of O&M); the construction contract alone is put at ≈€2.7bn, or ≈€4.1bn once the 30-year operation and maintenance is included — the same asset at three figures, depending on what is counted
FundingEgyptian state borrowing; £1.7bn UK Export Finance guarantee (2021) behind a JP Morgan-led syndicated buyer credit, reinsured by SACE and CESCE

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 5 more in Cairo · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Cairo's monorail carried its first passengers on 6 May 2026 over 16 stations between El-Musheer Tantawi and Justice City, and reached its full 22 stations on 27 June 2026 when six Nasr City stations opened. The 56.5 km elevated line runs from Cairo Stadium in Nasr City through New Cairo and into the New Administrative Capital, which this atlas holds as a separate city. Alstom supplies 40 four-car Innovia 300 trains and CityFlo 650 signalling and states the line runs unattended at GoA4 from a control centre in the new capital; no independent confirmation of unattended running was found, and none of the sources checked reports staff aboard. The National Authority for Tunnels owns the line; a consortium of Alstom, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors won a 2019 design-and-build contract with 30 years of operation and maintenance, covering this line and a second, still unfinished line between Giza and 6th of October City. The much-quoted 45,000 passengers per hour per direction is a design figure. No ridership has been published. Al Jazeera found the trains sparsely used in June 2026, with fares from 20 to 80 pounds and stations hard to reach on foot.

Live 📅 since 2026

🎓 Lesson

Rolling stock does not settle an automation claim. Cairo's GoA4 label rests on the supplier and the ministry, and the atlas has the counter-case in its own corpus: the same Innovia 300 monorail runs São Paulo's Line 15, where staff rode the trains from 2014 until unattended operation began in March 2025. Until an operating rulebook or an independent observer says what is aboard, GoA4 in Cairo is a specification, not a verified practice.

🚲 MobilityPublic transportAutonomous vehicles

Sources

↗ Al Jazeera — Egypt's new monorail offers a modern ride, but Cairo is still not convinced (1 June 2026)Fetched. The only genuinely independent reporting found. Supports: 6 May 2026 opening, 16 of 22 stations at launch with the Nasr City stations to follow, 56.6 km, Nasr City to the New Administrative Capital, the fare ladder (20/40/55/80 pounds, 50% subscription discount), sparse use at peak hours, stations hard to reach, and the calculation that daily use takes about 22% of the minimum wage against a 15% ceiling it attributes to UN guidance. Also quotes an analyst that the line serves 'a different social class'. Note its '$2.8 billion project' figure is not the programme cost — it matches Bombardier's own consortium share, see the 2019 release below.
↗ Egyptian Streets — Egypt to launch second phase of East Nile Monorail on Saturday (26 June 2026)Fetched. Supports the current status: phase two opened Saturday 27 June 2026 adding six stations (Cairo Stadium, Hisham Barakat, Al-Azhar University, Seventh District, Field Marshal Ahmed Ismail, Jehan El-Sadat), bringing all 22 stations into service; operating hours 06:00-21:00; discount days. Publishes no ridership figure.
↗ Bombardier Transportation / Orascom Construction — consortium wins contract to supply and operate two monorail lines in Egypt (5 August 2019)Fetched. Primary contract source, supplier-issued. Scope: design and build two lines plus 30 years of O&M; 54 km East Cairo to the New Administrative Capital and 42 km 6th of October City to Giza; 70 four-car Innovia Monorail 300 trains (280 cars); total value 'exceeds $4.5 billion US (4.1 billion euro)', of which Bombardier $2.85bn and Orascom Construction close to $900m. Language is 'flagship performance in driverless operations'; the release makes no 'longest driverless monorail' claim.
↗ Global Trade Review — UK Export Finance backs Bombardier monorail project (20 January 2021)Fetched. Financing detail: £1.7bn UKEF guarantee behind a €1.89bn facility (including financed ECA premium), JP Morgan as initial mandated lead arranger and facility agent with CaixaBank, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, KfW Ipex-Bank, NatWest, Société Générale and UBS; SACE and CESCE as reinsurers; described as the largest amount UKEF has ever provided for an overseas infrastructure project.
↗ Railway PRO — Africa's first monorail has begun commercial operations (May 2026)Published 6 May 2026Fetched. Trade press relaying Alstom's announcement — this is the origin of the automation claim used in the snippet: 'CBTC GoA4 signaling, which means fully automated operation without a driver on board, according to Alstom's announcement.' Also: 16 of 22 stations at launch, vehicles built at Alstom's Derby plant, up to 45,000 passengers per hour per direction as maximum capacity, and platform screen doors described as a continental first. Not independent of the supplier.
Show 4 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Railway Technology — Cairo Monorail project profilePublished 17 April 2024Fetched (article dated April 2024, pre-opening). Trade profile corroborating route geometry (Line 1 54 km/22 stations; Line 2 42 km/13 stations, Boulak to 6th of October City), the $4.5bn Alstom-led consortium contract of August 2019, the UKEF £1.7bn plus New Urban Communities Authority loans on 14-year terms, 70 Innovia 300 trains at up to 80 km/h, CityFlo 650 moving-block CBTC, the 30-year O&M term and 45,000 pphpd. Its completion targets (Line 1 late 2024, Line 2 2025) were both missed.
↗ Wikipedia — Cairo MonorailFetched. Tertiary source, used only for route geography and the status of the unbuilt line: East Nile termini Stadium (Cairo) to Justice City, 56.5 km, 22 stations, inaugurated 20 March 2026 with passenger service from 6 May; West Nile line New October to Nile Valley, 45 km, 13 stations, 'currently further delayed, with no estimated operation date'. It is also where the 'projected to become the longest driverless monorail system in the world when completed' claim sits — struck from this entry as contingent on a line that is not built. Its financing attribution to the EBRD and EIB was not corroborated by any source checked and is not used.
↗ Alstom — commercial service begins for the East of Nile Monorail (May 2026)Published 6 May 2026FETCH FAILED — HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, as did alstom.com/monorail-story-greater-cairo. Content reached only through trade-press relays (Railway PRO above), which is why the GoA4 claim is attributed rather than quoted from the primary.
↗ Egyptian State Information Service — East Nile MonorailFETCH FAILED — HTTP 503. The official government project page could not be read; no government primary source is therefore cited for the technical or ridership claims.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2026. 7 of 9 sources carry a publication date, from 5 August 2019 to 26 June 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Bombardier Transportation · vendorBombardier Transportation / Orascom Construction — consortium wins contract to supply and operate two monorail lines in Egypt (5 August 2019)
  2. Global Trade Review · pressGlobal Trade Review — UK Export Finance backs Bombardier monorail project (20 January 2021)
  3. Railway Technology (GlobalData) · pressRailway Technology — Cairo Monorail project profile
  4. RailwayPro · pressRailway PRO — Africa's first monorail has begun commercial operations (May 2026)
  5. Alstom · vendorAlstom — commercial service begins for the East of Nile Monorail (May 2026)
  6. Al Jazeera · pressAl Jazeera — Egypt's new monorail offers a modern ride, but Cairo is still not convinced (1 June 2026)
  7. Egyptian Streets · pressEgyptian Streets — Egypt to launch second phase of East Nile Monorail on Saturday (26 June 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read
  3. Publication date recorded for 9 sources

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 3 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 3 addressable claims, 9 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 3

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-a4cf9327149b93c1 quantitative
Alstom supplies 40 four-car Innovia 300 trains and CityFlo 650 signalling and states the line runs unattended at GoA4 from a control centre in the new capital; no independent confirmation of unattended running was found
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Alstom's own commercial-service announcement states the rolling stock, the CityFlo 650 signalling and unattended GoA4 operation from the control centre. It is the supplier's statement; the entry says so and records that no independent confirmation was found.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Alstom — commercial service begins for the East of Nile Monorail (May 2026)
Claim 2 clm-36da0d305bd01100 quantitative
The much-quoted 45,000 passengers per hour per direction is a design figure. No ridership has been published
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The 45,000 pphpd figure appears in project profiles as a design capacity, not measured demand — the ninth catch of that error class in this atlas. Al Jazeera reported the trains sparsely used in June 2026; no operator ridership figure has been published.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Railway Technology — Cairo Monorail project profile
  2. Al Jazeera — Egypt's new monorail offers a modern ride, but Cairo is still not convinced (1 June 2026)
Claim 3 clm-a7f1de2c4ee9040f quantitative
the same Innovia 300 monorail runs São Paulo's Line 15, where staff rode the trains from 2014 until unattended operation began in March 2025
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The atlas's own Sao Paulo Line 15 entry carries the counter-case on the same rolling stock: staff rode the trains from 2014 until unattended operation began in March 2025.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Railway Technology — Cairo Monorail project profile
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates effective 2026-08-14 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:052e2a0ead78f260c7aeedb7f47c9b37a62a4ff82cf026a5905cae7a6b6ebb5c
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
3
of 3 claims mapped
9
source dossiers
7
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
National Authority for Tunnels (owner); Alstom, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors consortium under a 30-year O&M contract
Actor types
private
Funding model
public
Funding description
Egyptian state borrowing; £1.7bn UK Export Finance guarantee (2021) behind a JP Morgan-led syndicated buyer credit, reinsured by SACE and CESCE
Cost
≈$4.5bn (2019 contract value, both lines, including 30 years of O&M); the construction contract alone is put at ≈€2.7bn, or ≈€4.1bn once the 30-year operation and maintenance is included — the same asset at three figures, depending on what is counted
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

9 source dossiers

Al Jazeera — Egypt's new monorail offers a modern ride, but Cairo is still not convinced (1 June 2026) aljazeera.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d67bc089af128d06
Publisher
Name not classified · aljazeera.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-06-01
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. The only genuinely independent reporting found. Supports: 6 May 2026 opening, 16 of 22 stations at launch with the Nasr City stations to follow, 56.6 km, Nasr City to the New Administrative Capital, the fare ladder (20/40/55/80 pounds, 50% subscription discount), sparse use at peak hours, stations hard to reach, and the calculation that daily use takes about 22% of the minimum wage against a 15% ceiling it attributes to UN guidance. Also quotes an analyst that the line serves 'a different social class'. Note its '$2.8 billion project' figure is not the programme cost — it matches Bombardier's own consortium share, see the 2019 release below.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Egyptian Streets — Egypt to launch second phase of East Nile Monorail on Saturday (26 June 2026) egyptianstreets.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-180b299b5787f061
Publisher
Name not classified · egyptianstreets.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-06-26
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. Supports the current status: phase two opened Saturday 27 June 2026 adding six stations (Cairo Stadium, Hisham Barakat, Al-Azhar University, Seventh District, Field Marshal Ahmed Ismail, Jehan El-Sadat), bringing all 22 stations into service; operating hours 06:00-21:00; discount days. Publishes no ridership figure.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Bombardier Transportation / Orascom Construction — consortium wins contract to supply and operate two monorail lines in Egypt (5 August 2019) globenewswire.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-75f1a02859576584
Publisher
Name not classified · globenewswire.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2019-08-05
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. Primary contract source, supplier-issued. Scope: design and build two lines plus 30 years of O&M; 54 km East Cairo to the New Administrative Capital and 42 km 6th of October City to Giza; 70 four-car Innovia Monorail 300 trains (280 cars); total value 'exceeds $4.5 billion US (4.1 billion euro)', of which Bombardier $2.85bn and Orascom Construction close to $900m. Language is 'flagship performance in driverless operations'; the release makes no 'longest driverless monorail' claim.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Global Trade Review — UK Export Finance backs Bombardier monorail project (20 January 2021) gtreview.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2d2bfb7bac4247b3
Publisher
Name not classified · gtreview.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-01-20
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. Financing detail: £1.7bn UKEF guarantee behind a €1.89bn facility (including financed ECA premium), JP Morgan as initial mandated lead arranger and facility agent with CaixaBank, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, KfW Ipex-Bank, NatWest, Société Générale and UBS; SACE and CESCE as reinsurers; described as the largest amount UKEF has ever provided for an overseas infrastructure project.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Railway PRO — Africa's first monorail has begun commercial operations (May 2026) railwaypro.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-c2ba73a53825a329
Publisher
Name not classified · railwaypro.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-05-06
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. Trade press relaying Alstom's announcement — this is the origin of the automation claim used in the snippet: 'CBTC GoA4 signaling, which means fully automated operation without a driver on board, according to Alstom's announcement.' Also: 16 of 22 stations at launch, vehicles built at Alstom's Derby plant, up to 45,000 passengers per hour per direction as maximum capacity, and platform screen doors described as a continental first. Not independent of the supplier.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Railway Technology — Cairo Monorail project profile railway-technology.com · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d0fa3fb9c0e34112
Publisher
Name not classified · railway-technology.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-04-17
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched (article dated April 2024, pre-opening). Trade profile corroborating route geometry (Line 1 54 km/22 stations; Line 2 42 km/13 stations, Boulak to 6th of October City), the $4.5bn Alstom-led consortium contract of August 2019, the UKEF £1.7bn plus New Urban Communities Authority loans on 14-year terms, 70 Innovia 300 trains at up to 80 km/h, CityFlo 650 moving-block CBTC, the 30-year O&M term and 45,000 pphpd. Its completion targets (Line 1 late 2024, Line 2 2025) were both missed.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Wikipedia — Cairo Monorail en.wikipedia.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-d576b85d1754419d
Publisher
Name not classified · en.wikipedia.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Fetched. Tertiary source, used only for route geography and the status of the unbuilt line: East Nile termini Stadium (Cairo) to Justice City, 56.5 km, 22 stations, inaugurated 20 March 2026 with passenger service from 6 May; West Nile line New October to Nile Valley, 45 km, 13 stations, 'currently further delayed, with no estimated operation date'. It is also where the 'projected to become the longest driverless monorail system in the world when completed' claim sits — struck from this entry as contingent on a line that is not built. Its financing attribution to the EBRD and EIB was not corroborated by any source checked and is not used.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Alstom — commercial service begins for the East of Nile Monorail (May 2026) alstom.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-044319267388a660
Publisher
Name not classified · alstom.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-05-06
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

FETCH FAILED — HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, as did alstom.com/monorail-story-greater-cairo. Content reached only through trade-press relays (Railway PRO above), which is why the GoA4 claim is attributed rather than quoted from the primary.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Egyptian State Information Service — East Nile Monorail sis.gov.eg · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-9fb18ca8e1f68a07
Publisher
Name not classified · sis.gov.eg
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-14
Dossier created
2026-08-20
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

FETCH FAILED — HTTP 503. The official government project page could not be read; no government primary source is therefore cited for the technical or ridership claims.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇪🇬 Cairo Bike: Egypt's First Public Bike Share · Cairo Same city, same credibility gap: big transport claims that no independent source has confirmed. 🇧🇷 São Paulo Metro: the two unattended lines, ten years apart · São Paulo The atlas's actual GoA4 comparison: São Paulo's Line 15 monorail ran staffed for a decade before verified unattended operation in 2025. 🇨🇳 Shenzhen Metro's GoA4 Driverless Lines (20 & 14) · Shenzhen Both label their lines GoA4 from opening; Shenzhen's is certified by an outside body, Cairo's rests on supplier and ministry.

Explore the wider context

💸 The Price Nobody Publishes📖 CBTC (communications-based train control)📖 Grades of Automation (GoA)📖 Personal rapid transit (PRT)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Cairo Monorail: the East Nile Line to the New Capital” — Cairo, Egypt. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/cairo-monorail/ (last verified 2026-08-14). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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