It’s time for trial operations to begin at the new administrative capital ahead of its inauguration before 2022. Up first: The area’s government district, where employees will be relocated in stages to test out the district and its facilities as of this August, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said in a cabinet statement.

Where the district currently stands: As of last month, the district’s buildings were 90% equipped and furnished, Deputy Housing Minister Khaled Abbas said at the time. The district has also now been connected to utility infrastructure, including water lines, sewage systems, and the electricity grid, Housing Minister Assem El Gazzar said yesterday. The move to the new capital was scheduled to happen in June 2020 before President Abdel Fattah El Sisi decided to take a one-year delay on the inauguration of all national projects because of the pandemic.

MEANWHILE- The first phase of the Salam City-Tenth of Ramadan electric rail will also begin operating on a trial basis as of next August, ahead of opening to the public in October, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime 5:35). The phase runs between Adly Mansour station and the new administrative capital. The trial will see two of 22 rail cars in operation. The ministry is also aiming to complete the construction of the concrete pillars for the USD 4.5 bn monorail project — which will extend a 54-km line between Nasr City and the new capital and a 42-km line from Sixth of October to Giza — by the time the new capital is inaugurated later this year, El Wazir added.

IN OTHER NEW CAPITAL NEWS- Modon Real Estate Development plans to spend EGP 3 bn on the build out of a residential development in the new administrative capital as its first foray into the nation’s real estate market, according to the local press.

CORRECTION: Modon Real Estate Development is not the Modon Developments SAE owned by the Lotfy Soliman family, but a separate and unrelated company. This story was corrected on 10 March 2021.