Skip to main content

Thales to upgrade Greater Cairo Metro

More than 30 years after winning its first contract for the Greater Cairo Metro, Thales has signed two contracts with the metro operator; the first is for an upgrade of the fare collection system for Lines 1 and 2 of the Egyptian capital’s rapid transit network and the second for a full integrated communications and supervision system for the Al Thawra extension on the line 3 (Phase 3). Thales will deploy its TransCity fare collection solution on Lines 1 and 2 of the Cairo Metro, replacing the equipment
December 18, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

More than 30 years after winning its first contract for the Greater Cairo Metro, 596 Thales has signed two contracts with the metro operator; the first is for an upgrade of the fare collection system for Lines 1 and 2 of the Egyptian capital’s rapid transit network and the second for a full integrated communications and supervision system for the Al Thawra extension on the line 3 (Phase 3).

Thales will deploy its TransCity fare collection solution on Lines 1 and 2 of the Cairo Metro, replacing the equipment installed in the 1980s, when these first two lines were built. Under the contract, Thales will supply 850 access gates, 100 vending terminals for ticket outlets and 75 portable ticket control terminals, as well as implementing new system architecture. In addition, the TransCity central system will supervise all data generated across the existing network and accommodate future network evolutions and extensions. 

The 18-month project will be conducted on one of the densest public transport networks in the world with no disruption to passenger flows. Once completed, a combination of magnetic stripe and contactless fare media technology will make it easier for passengers to access the metro system. The new fare collection equipment installed at stations on Lines 1 and 2 will improve reliability while reducing maintenance costs.

Under the second contract, in a consortium with Alstom, Thales has signed a contract to implement an integrated communications and supervision system for 15 new stations and an additional depot on more than 17km Attaba to Rod El Farag and Cairo University. This extension is one of the Egyptian authorities’ strategic investments in Cairo to increase the level of public transport services and will result in 76 months of activity.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Traffic to flow freely over world’s widest bridge
    November 13, 2012
    Pete Goldin reports on a new Egis project in Canada, providing open road tolling operations for the widest bridge in the world. A bridge can present a bottleneck in a system of roads or it can support the smooth and unobstructed flow of traffic. Much depends on the bridge design, surrounding infrastructure and tolling system. By adding lanes and deploying open road tolling (ORT), the new Port Mann Bridge located in the metropolitan Vancouver area in British Columbia, will alleviate congestion at one of the
  • Temporary traffic monitoring with Bluetooth and wi-fi
    May 31, 2013
    David Crawford reviews developments in temporary ITS. Widespread take-up of technologies such as Bluetooth and wi-fi are encouraging the emergence of more sophisticated, while still cost effective, ITS responses to the traffic issues posed by temporary road situations such as work zones and special events. Andy Graham of traffic solutions specialists White Willow Consulting says: “A machine-to-machine radio link is far easier and cheaper than reading characters on a plate.” There can be other plusses. Tech
  • How public transit improves quality of life
    June 29, 2022
    There are various reasons why Mobility as a Service is catching on more in Europe than the US – but there are still other ways in which access to mobility can be improved across the states, finds Gordon Feller
  • Kapsch traffic management for Chile
    June 21, 2013
    Kapsch TrafficCom has been awarded a US$860,000 contract to implement and operate a new variable message sign (VMS) system on the only access road to El Teniente copper mine, Chile. The system is the first stage of a planned traffic management system. Situated around 80km south of the capital city of Santiago de Chile in the Andes mountains, El Teniente is the world’s largest underground copper mine, operated by the state-owned mining company Codelco. More than 10,000 miners are transported to and from th