Cairo: Egyptian transport authorities said on Friday that passengers will be allowed to use the nation’s rail service for free on August 6 when a new waterway built parallel to the historic Suez Canal will be inaugurated.
“This move is meant to join the Egyptian people in celebrating this historic event,” said Transport Minister Hani Dahi in a statement.
Rides on trains and Cairo’s subway system will be free on Thursday, according to the official.
A spokesperson for the Cairo subway said that patriotic songs would be broadcast at metro stations starting from Saturday to mark the inauguration.
President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and world dignitaries will open the 72-kilometre-long waterway aimed at allowing two-lane traffic and cutting the waiting time for vessels passing through the Suez Canal, one of Egypt’s key foreign currency earners.
Authorities have said that the additional lane would increase revenues from the Suez Canal from the current $5.3 billion (Dh19.46 billion) to $13 billion by 2023.
Egypt started digging the route last August as part of an ambitious project designed to turn the Suez Canal zone into a global trade and logistics hub.
The mega project is expected to create around 1 million jobs, according to the government.
The new waterway has cost around $8 billion wholly paid by Egyptians through buying five-year investment certificates offering an annual 12 per cent interest rate.
Al Sissi, who took office last year, hopes the project will rejuvenate the national economy hammered by years of unrest following the 2011 uprising.