The contracts for the first section of the project were signed on 29 April in Cairo in the presence of the Egyptian prime minister, Dr. Ahmed Nazif, the Egyptian minister of transport, Mohammed Mansour, and the French minister for external commerce, Christine Lagarde.

Thales will supply a ticketing system based on contactless technology for the new line. Line 3 is the first step towards introducing contactless technology in Cairo's public transportation network. In the long-term, the whole network will run on contactless technology. Interoperable fare collection systems already installed by Thales in other large cities integrate access to metros as well as to the bus and tramway networks. They can also be extended to include additional services.

Furthermore, the Egyptian transport authorities awarded Thales the contract to supply an integrated supervision, control and communication system which ensures the security and safety of passengers and operations on the new line. It includes a communication centre which allows the operator to broadcast passenger information in the station and enables voice and data exchange with the train drivers, collection and monitoring of all equipment and alert systems on the line as well as telephone communication with the technical and operation room.

Construction work for the new Cairo metro line, which will include 29 stations and will be 33 km in length, is due to start in July of this year. After roll-out is complete, the metro network will be 100 km long.

"This success confirms Thales' position as a world leading systems integrator in the fields of advanced fare collection systems and centralised security systems which ensure supervision, control and communication. Through our long-term working relationship, we have developed a position of trust with the Egyptian transport authorities, which we hope to build on in the future," comments Jean-Louis Olié, managing director of Thales' transportation systems activities.