Egypt has signed an agreement with Canadian plane and train manufacturer Bombardier to finance and construct the sixth metro line, said a report.

The sixth line will stretch over 20 km parallel to the first line, with a total of 24 stations, 12 of them underground, with an initial cost estimated at $4 billion, reported Amwal Alghad.

It will run from northern Cairo, near the ring road, then head south, passing through Greater Cairo's Shubra El-Kheima and New Maadi, ending at the start of Ain El-Sokhna Road, it stated.

The agreement was signed by Tarek Gamal El Din, the chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), and Laurent Bouyer, Bombardier’s vice-president (marketing and sales) for Western Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

The sixth line is set to accommodate around half a million passengers, said the report, citing the Egyptian Transportation Minister Hesham Arafat.

The Cairo metro, launched in 1987, is one of the oldest in the Middle East and Africa, and is used by millions to get around the bustling city, said the minister.

The capacity of the first line is 1.8 million passengers, yet it carries 2 million passengers a day, he added.