CAIRO: Studies and designs for Cairo's fourth metro line were announced by National Authority for Tunnels head engineer Atta al-Sherbini on Tuesday. The fourth metro line will extend from the Ring Road close to the entrance of 6 October City to al-Malek al-Saleh station on the first metro line, where it will be divided into two lines, one linked to Nasr City and the other to Sawah Square. Atta said a team of Japanese experts from the project's consultant office arrived in Cairo to launch the designs of the first stage of the fourth metro line, adding that he met with them on Tuesday. The first stage of the project will cost U.S. $1.2 billion. A long-term loan from Japan will fund the project. Egypt will repay the loan over a 40-year period at 2 percent interest, with a ten-year grace period. Sherbini said that the first stage of the fourth line will be 17.7 kilometers long and will have 18 stations.
