Mar 4, 2018

CAIRO — At least 12 people were killed and dozens of others injured in a Feb. 28 collision between two trains in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The tragedy reignited an ongoing debate over a postponed rise in train ticket prices and the urgent need to develop the neglected railways.

A price hike had been scheduled for early February, but Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat said in a Feb. 13 press statement that the increase was postponed to allow citizens, especially students, to buy subscriptions before the increase. The change now is set for the end of the school year in June.

Arafat said the hikes are needed to save the railway system from collapse. The National Railways Authority has incurred losses of 1 million Egyptian pounds (roughly $57,000) annually, largely because of rising fuel prices. Also, the debts accumulated by the railway for 20 years reached about 40 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.2 billion) in fiscal year 2016-17, which ended in June.

The increase will also help cover maintenance costs and spare part prices, which have risen with the liberalization of the exchange rate, the Transportation Ministry said in a Jan. 23 press statement.

“The increase in ticket prices aims to [provide] 800 million pounds [around $45 million] a year,” Arafat told Hona al-Asima TV in a show that aired in January. “The increase … is entirely related to improving the service. … The ministry will not be able to spend on railways if the situation remains as is for much longer.”