Egypt doubles price of metro tickets

Egypt’s transport ministry decided on Thursday to double the price of tickets on Cairo’s metro system with effect from Friday, Minister Hisham Arafat has announced. Arafat noted that the elderly and people with special needs would not be affected, but school and university students are included in the price hike.

The minister blamed the increase on higher electricity costs and the price of spare parts, as well as the losses and increasing debts of the metro services. More than 3 million Egyptian commuters use the metro every day, including 40 per cent using discounted tickets, added Arafat. This is the first price increase on the metro since 2006 and it applies regardless of the number of stations used or circumstances of passengers.

According to the minister, the annual income from the metro is 716 million Egyptian pounds ($39.7m) while running costs are 916 million Egyptian pounds ($50.8m), making an annual loss of 200 million Egyptian pounds ($11.1m). The Cairo metro system has just three lines, each 79 kilometres long; there are 64 stations.

According to Prime Minister Sharif Ismail, the Egyptian government could not maintain the metro service without the price increase. The hike in the metro fares came as rampant inflation in the country reached 31.7 per cent in February.