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Cairo metro fare hike results in public backlash

Egyptian news recently reported that the Transport Ministry will increase the price of a metro ticket by 2,500%, which activists consider extremely unfair.
Passengers are seen waiting for the arrival of the train at a station on the new metro line in Cairo which opened on February 21, 2012, linking the central Ataba district with the subrub of Abbasiya, two of the Egyptian capital's busiest neighborhoods. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
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CAIRO — According to various news sites, Egyptian Minister of Transport Hani Dahi announced at a press conference on Dec. 29, 2014, that the fair price of a metro ticket, which currently does not generate any profits for the ministry, should be 25 Egyptian pounds ($3.40) instead of the current price of 1 Egyptian pound (14 cents).

During the same press conference Dahi said that the subsidy — which is 24 Egyptian pounds ($3.20) per ticket — cost the metro 130 million Egyptian pounds ($17.6 million) in losses last year, and they are expected to reach 180 million Egyptian pounds ($24.4 million) this year. This means that the daily loss of the metro is estimated at nearly 500,000 Egyptian pounds ($68,038) in 2015.

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