CAIRO: The Sadat metro station in Tahrir Square was re-opened Saturday per a decision by the Transport Police, after it has been closed for the past few days, Youm7 reported.
The Metro Company has received approval from security authorities to re-operate the station starting from Saturday; Youm7 quoted a source at the company as saying. The station was closed on June 30 reportedly due to “security reasons,” a day after the assassination of the Attorney-General Hisham Barakat.
However, Minister of Transport Hany Dahy denied links between the two incidents, citing “maintenance reasons.”
The station’s closure timing coincided with the second anniversary of the June 30 anti-Muslim Brotherhood protests that toppled former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
The Sadat station, located under the iconic Tahrir Square, was re-opened for the first two weeks of the holy month of Ramadan after it has been closed for almost two years.
Over “security reasons,” the central metro stop was closed in August 2013, after the dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo that left hundreds killed and injured. Since then, the re-opening of the station was a mass demand especially after complaints of extreme overcrowding at alternative stations.
Additional reporting by Reda Hebeishy