Preventive maintenance operations on the Cairo Metro

10After participating in the construction of the first section of Cairo Metro Line 3, ETF Egypt teams are carrying out four months of preventive maintenance work to ensure the long-term viability of the section of track already in service.

From 25 June 2021 until mid-October, ETF is working on behalf of RATP Dev Mobility Cairo (RDMC), the new operator of Line 3. A dedicated team of 15 operational staff is carrying out this four-month maintenance programme at night, between 1.30 a.m. and 4.30 a.m., when the line is not in operation.

They cover the 16.7 km of double track and a depot to carry out:

• visual inspection of the entire line
• lubrication of track equipment,
• measurement of track equipment, curves and the third rail to verify that they comply with line standards
• measurement and repair of mechanical joints, etc.

If any issues are identified, corrective action is taken immediately. The aim of this preventive maintenance is to correct minor imperfections in the track and thus prevent more significant problems that would require more extensive work and could impact passenger traffic.

During the summer period, ETF also mobilised an on-call team available 24/7 across the entire line. When a problem was detected on the track, operational staff were able to intervene on site as quickly as possible to investigate the causes of the problems observed, correct them so that traffic could resume, and then agree on corrective measures.

The western extension, beyond Attaba station, is still underway, with track work being carried out in tunnels and on viaducts.