Cairo's new suburban rail network
The $1.24 billion, state-of-the-art rail network that opened in July has had problems attracting passengers, chiefly because the suburban east Cairo communities it links with the rest of the city and the new capital farther out in the desert are sparsely populated. The government says it is merely a matter of time before business picks up and the project is validated. However, a recent rumour that the network was suspended because it was running at a loss has fuelled criticism of the government’s spending priorities, placing the transport project at the centre of a politically sensitive debate on economic policy. The criticism has quickly gained traction given the dire economic situation in which the country found itself after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war and the preceding coronavirus pandemic.