Delivery will start in 2015 and the new trains will replace trains currently operating of Line 1 of the Cairo metro. Line 1 runs for 44km from El Marg via the city centre to Helwan, the first section of which opened in 1987.

Hyundai Rotem says it won the contract in competition with Japanese suppliers, and this order means it has achieved export sales of $US 1.6bn in 2012.