Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian transport ministry is mulling over increasing ticket prices of Cairo Metro’s latest line in a bid to cover maintenance costs, the transport minister said.

The current prices of tickets for the old underground lines will remain unchanged without any increases, Hisham Arafat added in a phone broadcast on CBC TV.

Trial operation at Heliopolis Metro, the third line of the state’s underground system, will be carried out for almost two months, the minister indicated.

The transport sector will witness a remarkable development in the next four years that it has never seen over the past 37 years, Arafat stressed.

The transport ministry had to raise the ticket prices of the Cairo Metro as of Friday, 11 May.

The Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation back then noted that ticket prices, which was previously set at EGP 2, will now begin from EGP 3 for nine stops, EGP 5 for 16 stops, and for longer journey tickets will cost EGP 7 ($0.40).

However, disabled commuters will have a fixed price of EGP 0.50.

The decision aims at cutting losses, according to Ali El-Fadaly, the chairman of the Metro Company.