CAIRO - Thousands of Cairo commuters are expected to be catching a new metro to work and home on Tuesday after 2:00 PM, when Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri opens the underground line connecting Attaba to Abbassiya, Ministry of Transportation officials revealed. The officials said that the strategy of the new metro line was designed to carry commuters through the central squares of Attaba and Abbassiya. The metro should evoke national pride after the January 25 Revolution, Transportation Minister Galal Saeed said. By Tuesday, he continued, the new metro system would be able to scoop thousands of commuters a day off the streets and into Egyptian-built trains. Cairo already has a 50 km line and a 19km-long second line connecting the downtown area to Shubra el-Khaima. "The new line will save millions of productive hours which would otherwise be lost in travelling through congested areas of the city, save thousands of litres of fuel, eliminate traffic jams and lessen the effect of pollution," Minister Saeed said. Hany Galal, a shop assistant, said that the new metro would save time on his 10-km journey to home and cost a pound less than the bus fare. Foreign and local contractors and consultants had worked on the Attaba-Abbassiya line, the Minister said. These companies, whose names were not disclosed, provided control panels and technology for the new metro, he said. "I am proud of the metro because it is as big a project ," Galal said, adding that the new line would provide a retreat from traffic chaos between Attaba and Abbassiya. On Tuesday, at two pm when banks and government offices close for the day, commuters will ride the coaches of the new metro whose five stations are air-conditioned and provided with state-of-the-art monitoring cameras. Colourful tiled murals adorn the walls of the stations, where smoking is strictly forbidden, the officials said. Each station is provided with male officials to stop turnstile jumpers and hustle men out of front coaches reserved for women?, they said. The metro is expected to be comfortable for the commuters especially at peak times, the officials said. Galal said that the metro will get him to work from Abbassiya at the end of the line in less than 15 minutes, instead of more than 45 minutes by bus. "It's going to be the best way to go," he said. Minister Saeed said that the project would be beneficial to all Cairo residents. Some residents have expressed hope it will ease chronic congestion that usually occurs in el-Geish Street as well as Bab el-Shaariya and Abbassiya Squares.
