Railway ticket hikes to raise EGP 2bn revenues – Ministry

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s transport ministry is planning to generate annual revenues of EGP 2 billion from railway after putting the increase in railway ticket prices into effect, deputy transport minister Amr Shaath told Shorouk News.

The ministry is currently in talks with the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) in order to set the increase percentage to reduce accumulated losses, Shaath added.

The Egyptian National Railways (ENR) achieves railway ticket sales of EGP 1 billion per year, he highlighted.

Expenses exceed EGP 4 billion, including purchasing spare parts for trains’ maintenance and fuel, as well as paying salaries for the ENR’s employees, he indicated.

Accordingly, the ENR suffers losses that surpass EGP 3 billion, the deputy minister noted.

On 11 January, Egypt’s transport minister Hisham Arafat said that the prices of railway tickets in Egypt are set to be increased within two weeks.

Given that Egypt’s transport ministry is planning to increase the prices of railway tickets by 20% to 25%.