The world’s cheapest metro. Where is it and how much it costs
For only US 11 cents you can buy a subway ticket in Cairo, Egypt. However, even this small sum is a burden for the millions of people who use the metro system daily given that the purchasing power has eroded after the government imposed strict economic reforms, according to a report by Associated Press.
Moreover, discontent over the fare is threatening to increase over calls for reform. Egypt’s capital is an overcrowded and traffic-chocked city with the metro system being one of the most used transport methods.
Nearly 5 million people a day in the city of 18 million use the metro. Running along three lines, it is by far the fastest mode of transport, since traffic can jam the streets at all hours day and night.
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The 30-year-old Cairo Metro is a good example of Egyp’s economic inequalities and the distances between classes. Unlike subways in New York, Washington, Paris and elsewhere in the world where the well-off and the poor mingle to at least some extent, the passengers of Cairo’s metro cars each day are overwhelmingly poor or from the lower middle classes.
In addition to the high fare, people are discontent about the fact that only some trains have air conditioning, which is excruciatingly difficult due to the summer hear. Commuters sometimes face 15 or 20-minute waits, making rush-hour trains even more crowded.
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