Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, issued a decree on Sunday to set the status the proposed monorail project as a public benefit project, including the planned path, and any facilities.
The decree stipulates the expropriation of the land of for public benefit.
Legally, the government is required to provide a detailed plan for a project before it can seize private property, and may do so only when the project benefits the general public, such as infrastructure, a school or a hospital.
In December 2017, Madbouly revealed plans to establish two monorails, one to link the New Administrative Capital with East Cairo—including Obour, Badr City, El Shorouk, 10th of Ramadan, and downtown—at 52 km in length, and the other to link Sixth of October City with Giza at 35 km in length.
Moreover, Madbouly indicated at the time that the monorail project will accelerate the development of the New Administrative Capital and will meet passenger demand according to current and future development plans for the years 2020, 2030, and 2050.
In its first article, the decree states that these lands belong to the Ministries of Defence, Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, and some of which are privately owned.
The proposed monorail project will be able to transport around 48,000 passengers per hour in each direction, with a journey time of 35 minutes, and is planned to have 27 trains. The first phase will have 108 railroad cars that can transport 24,000 passengers at speeds of up to 80 km per hour.
According to the minister, the project will be completed in three years. Once the monorail starts operating in 2020, it would be able to transport 250,000 passengers daily.
