Tuesday power outage halts Cairo metro for 30 minutes, causing chaos

Cairo’s underground metro has resumed operations after a power outage led to a 30-minute halt on the first route at 11am on Tuesday.

A power outage hit the Torra power station, cutting off electricity from half of the first metro route, which connects the southern suburb of Helwan to El-Marg, north of Cairo, and passes by downtown Cairo.

The outage was due to the failure of a major power transformer. The spokesperson for the Electricity Ministry said power will return gradually to the affected areas.

Technicians resolved the electrical outage and movement returned to normal after 30 minutes.

An Ahram Online reporter says that stations were overly crowded and many people suffered from rising heat, as Egypt is witnessing soaring summer temperatures.

Passengers were stuck in the train cars, banging on the doors to open. When the passengers managed to escape, some of them walked along the tracks to their destination.

Several parts of Greater Cairo, particularly Giza, suffered power cuts on Tuesday, including areas of Haram, Dokki, Mohandessin, and Maadi. The outage also hit Qasr El-Ainy hospital in downtown Cairo.

Approximately three million people use the metro on a daily basis, according to the State Information Service (SIS).

Metro transportation is one of the fastest and cheapest means of transportation in Cairo. A metro ticket costs LE1, which is equivalent to 13 cents.

source:Ahram Online