INFRASTRUCTURE WATCH- EBRD provides EUR 205 mn loan to rehab Cairo Metro’s Line 1: The Madbouly government signed yesterday a EUR 205 mn loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance the rehabilitation of infrastructure on the Cairo Metro’s Line 1, according to a Cabinet statement. “The funds will finance urgent works on Line 1 — the oldest of the Cairo underground lines — which remains the backbone of the system and is used by 500 mn customers per year. Investments will increase the line’s capacity by 40 per cent by reducing headway (the time between trains) from 3.5 minutes to 2.5 minutes, thereby improving levels of safety, comfort and service reliability,” according to an EBRD statement.

Background: The loan is part of a EUR 600 mn funding agreement — the balance of which will be provided by the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank — for the first phase of the line’s development. The National Authority for Tunnels is expected to contribute an additional EUR 145 mn for the first phase. The EUR 650 mn second phase will entail the purchase of an unspecified number of metro cars, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said yesterday.