Goodbye Traffic? Cairo's Main Metro Station Reopens

With traffic being a main concern, if not one of the biggest nuisances, for Cairo dwellers it comes as great relief that the city’s main metro station, Sadat, located in Tahrir Square, welcomes passengers today, after two years of dormancy.

The Grand Central Station of Cairo city, acting as a major stop for switching between metro lines, is expected to alleviate a large portion of the pain and pressure of Cairo’s strangling traffic, with official statistics by the country’s national tunnels authority stating that 3.5 million of Cairo’s 21 million inhabitants rely on the subway for daily commute.  

Transport Minister Hani Dahi was present at the opening to inspect the running of the station: "We promised we would reopen the station before Ramadan and we have fulfilled the promise," Dahi told reporters. A major plus is the increase of security with metal detectors and x-ray machines as well as security dogs part of the plan of increasing security in public places.

Sadat station has been closed for security reasons since August 2013. Tahrir Square has been a historic and prominent space for the gathering of protesters which thus resulted in the closing down of the station.

Photo Courtesy: Youm 7