Egypt calls for private investment in rail network

After several fatal train accidents took place across Egypt, there have been calls for the railway service to be privatized in an effort to repair and develop the system.

Dozens of accidents have taken place since 2006 when two trains collided near the coastal city of Alexandria injuring some 20 people. After last week’s collision in Behaira, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has ordered the formation of a high committee to look in to locomotive safety in the country.

Headed by Ibrahim Mahleb, the new body includes professors of transport from universities, officials from within the transport ministry and specialists who will inspect trains and railway equipment.

“We want a perfect railway facility that operates in a modern way,” he stressed.

Egypt: 16 killed as train carriages derail

Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat stressed that “without the participation of the private sector in the development of the railway system, we will be wasting our time.”

“The ministry is determined to involve the private sector in the development of the national railway system.”