[23]: 32 Line 1 has a train driving simulator supplied by Transurb Technirail that won the international tender issued by Cairo Metro in 2011.

[38] As the biggest and most densely populated megacity in Africa and the Middle East, Greater Cairo had a strong case for a metro.

[23]: 15  The second line would be from Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque to Shobra going under Downtown Cairo and would be 9.5 km (5.9 mi) long.

[23]: 15 In 1964, British experts advised the creation of a metro line from Bab El Louk to Shubra.

[23]: 16  In 1966 Japanese experts advised the creation of a lane between Helwan and El Marg and another one going through Mohandiseen, Heliopolis and 26 of July Street, for a total of 26 km (16.2 mi).

[23]: 18 The first line would use the already available railways (Helwan-Bab El luk and Al Laymoun Bridge-El Marg) and connect them through a metro.

The second line would be 13.5 km (8.4 mi) and connect Shubra El-Kheima and Bulaq going through Ramses Street and Tahrir Square.

[23]: 19 The priority for the project was the first line which would reduce 30% of the daily transport to and from Cairo and would incorporate pre-existing rail infrastructure.

[39] In 1999, New El Marg station was added to the northern end of the line, bringing its total length to 44 km.

[42][43] Phase 1 (west) of the project will run from El-Malek El-Saleh Station (Interchange with Line 1) to the October-Oasis Highway Station with a total length of 18 km, passing through Giza Railway Station (Interchange with Line 2);[44][45] the original plan for phase 1 was for it to start from El-Malek El-Saleh Station and end at the Grand Egyptian Museum Station with a total length of 10 km, but the Ministry of Roads & Transportation decided to extend the Line in their efforts to further connect the Governorate of 6 October to the Greater Cairo Area; Phase 1 also includes the plan to connect the end of Line 4 to the suburbs of 6 October mainly through executing The October 6th Tram system (The O6T) which will be by using a tram-train system supplied with the Alstom Regio-Citadis trams.

[26] Phase 1 stations will be equipped with an automatic fare collection system and platform screen doors, and will include elevators for the use of disabled passengers.

[26] Phase 1 bidding was postponed until May 2015 to enable Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to complete the feasibility study and to resolve other problems with the construction starting by 2015 or 2016 according to Ismail El-Nagdy, Chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels with Japan International Cooperation Agency financing a $1.2 billion loan, while Egyptian government would cover the remainder, $2.4 billion.

[44][45][47][48] Phase 2 will begin from El-Malek El-Saleh Station, passing east through Magra El-Oyoun street and Salah El-Din Citadel in Salah Salem street and ending at the 6th District Station (beginning of Nasr City district) with a completion date set at October 2018.

[11] Phase 3 will begin from 6th District Station and end at Makram Ebeid Station, following Mustafa El-Nahas street in bored tunnels under the existing old tram system, and ultimately deconstructing the old railway and paving its right-of-way (increasing the street by two lanes in each direction, which is critically needed to lighten the traffic congestion in the area).

[citation needed] Mitsubishi was the only company to submit an offer on a tender for 64 trains in the third and fourth phases of the project.

[11] This project was first proposed by private investors as a plan to connect Line 3 with Line 4, through a route that is mostly parallel to the Ring Road's eastern arc, therefore covering New Cairo from north to south starting at the Cairo International Airport and ending at the beginning of the Cairo-Ain Sokhna Highway.

[citation needed] In August 2016, a different monorail project was under discussion, connecting 6 October city with other western parts of Greater Cairo.

[50] A contract was signed in August 2019 with Bombardier Transportation, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors for $4.5 billion to build and operate the two monorail lines.

[51] As of December 2017, Spokesperson for the Egyptian National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) said that there are plans to extend Line 2 7 kilometers to the north from Shubra Al-Kheima station to end at Qalyub station due to the increasing traffic in north Cairo entrances, He also said that bidding will be held in February 2018 and the winner will be revealed mid-2018.

[52] Line 3 Phase 4C is proposed to start from Heliopolis station passing through Al-Hegaz Square and Military Academy area to Sheraton District and after 7.0 km (4.3 mi) ending at Cairo International Airport.

The completed Metro Network would be capable of serving most of the densely populated areas in the Greater Cairo region, which was much in need of a comprehensive mass transit system.

The six planned metro lines aim to meet the transportation demands of the Greater Cairo area up to the year 2032.

It would run from Ataba Station through El Kalaa street in bored tunnels to Salah Eldin Citadel Station (Interchange with Line 4) and move on from there to both districts via bored tunnels using the existing route El-Mahager Railway as a guide through both Maadi and Helwan.