CAIRO – 6 July 2019: The train fares will not change any time soon following the increase of fuel prices, Chairman of the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) Ashraf Raslan told Egypt Today on Saturday affirming that the authority will bear the difference in the cost.
On Friday, the fifth and final tranche of subsidies cut was introduced by the government.
CAIRO - 5 July 2019: Egypt announced applying the fifth and final tranche of fuel subsidies cut Friday morning. The government announced the new prices of fuel gasoline 95 according to the automatic pricing mechanism that was approved in January at LE 9 per liter.
ERA has been implementing a plan to develop the railway network in Egypt by introducing new rail cars, maintaining some of the existing ones, upgrading railroads, and modernizing signaling systems and stations.
The authority is also establishing a network of high-speed railway lines. The network includes three lines that will be executed in order of priority. The first links Ain Sokhna to New Alamein. It will start from the New Administrative Capital (NAC) passing through Ain Sokhna and 6th of October City until New Alamein. There will be a branch at Nubareya that extends to Alexandria through Borg al-Arab city.
The first phase of that line will stretch from NAC until the 6th of October City over 122 kilometers and be linked with Rod al-Farag Axis. The second phase will extend from 6th of October City until New Alamein over 210 kilometers passing in parallel to Rod alFarag - Dabaa axis. That phase will have a branch line that starts from Nubareya at Beheira governorate and ends in Alexandria passing through Borg al-Arab over 99 kilometers. The third phase links NAC with Ain Sokhna, and lies over 92 kilometers.
The second line links 6th of October City with Upper Egyptian governorates until Aswan. The third line will start from Ain Sokhna and passes through Marsa Alam and Hurghada until it ends in Luxor. Ain Sokhna and Luxor will be the junction stations of the first and third lines. The speed of passenger and freight trains will be 250 km/h and 160 km/h respectively.
The rate of accomplishment will be determined by the availability of funding stating that the ministry requires in tenders that offers be backed by governmental soft loans that can cover the costs of the projects execution. That is the case of the first line tender currently taking place.
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