Snarled traffic, polluted air and horn-honking cacophony have long frayed the nerves of Cairo's roughly 12 million residents and 1 million annual visitors. Much of the capital's legendary congestion may finally be relieved this week, when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak officially opens Cairo's first subway service. Five years and $1 billion in the making, the 17-mile, six-station ( system is the first phase of a projected 25-mile line that will ultimately transport 1 million passengers a Day.
The system arrived none too soon. If traffic patterns had continued, Egyptian officials estimated, the streets of downtown Cairo would have been virtually gridlocked...