The specter of accumulated debts is haunting Cairo’s metro, putting Egypt's most popular means of transportation in jeopardy.

Hit by a severe cash crunch, the state-run Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation failed to pay huge water and electricity bills worth about 300 million Egyptian pounds ($16.6 million) for the past 18 months. Compounding the problem is that water and power companies have warned that they will halt their services if these bills are not paid. Between the hammer of these outstanding debts and the anvil of hefty annual losses, the three-line metro network is struggling to curb its budget deficit.

Metro spokesman Ahmed Abdel Hadi said the company owes 260 million pounds in electricity bills and 40 million pounds in water bills. He said the utilities have warned that they will undertake legal procedures against the metro company if the bills are not paid.

The metro company also owes money to maintenance, cleaning, security and spare parts companies. Abdel Hadi said ThyssenKrupp, a leading German industrial group in charge of maintaining the metro stations' elevators and escalators, has refused to renew its contract with the metro company until it receives payment. He said some elevators and escalators might become nonoperational under these circumstances.