Railroad loses LE 5B annually, has 40K excess labor: ministry

CAIRO – 26 July 2017: Railroad loses LE 5 billion ($279 million) annually, said Deputy of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the House of Representatives, Mohamed Badawy Dessouki, which causes them to spend profits from other economic entities.

He added that while about 75,000 employees work in the railroad, it only needs 30,000 workers or half the number of existing worker at the most. Dessouki stressed that financial and administrative corruption still exists within the institution.

Dessouki had previously expressed his dissatisfaction with how the railroad is being operated earlier this month. He stated that the services in that sector have deteriorated and that the railroads, stations and stores were not any better, stressing that the overall governing system must be restructured and developed. He expressed his dissatisfaction that there were no radical solutions proposed by the government to control the losses that started in 1998.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Transportation developed a plan to renovate 178,584 km of railroads during fiscal year 2016-2017, 168 km of railroads in fiscal year 2017-2018 and 1,200 km of railroad in fiscal year 2018-2019.

“Developing the railway network needs over LE 45 billion ($2.5 billion), since it has not been developed for 70 years, while the population has increased by about 10 times,” Transport Minister Hisham Arafat disclosed in May.

Dessouki suggested Arafat treat the railroad as part of the economic sector instead of the service sector, stating that if it is properly renovated it will generate up to LE 2 billion in profit annually. He added that it will also result in decreasing labor following installation of technological equipment and end illegal crossings.

He expressed his support for the three-year renovation plan, and stressed the importance of the speed of its execution.