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| A locomotive at Edfu railway station, Egypt. File photograph, February 2023. Matthias-Tf / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. |
Egyptian prosecutors have opened an investigation into a collision between two passenger trains in Giza governorate that killed at least seven people and injured 125 on Sunday, 8 November.
According to Egyptian National Railways, a Giza–Fayoum service struck the rear of a Cairo–Aswan train between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations in the Al-Ayyat district. Preliminary findings indicated that the Cairo–Aswan train was stationary on the same track when the collision occurred.
The Associated Press reported that more than 70 injured passengers had left hospital after receiving treatment. Emergency personnel and cranes worked at the scene to remove damaged carriages and clear the railway.
Egyptian National Railways said Cairo–High Dam services resumed on Monday after crews removed damaged carriages and repaired the track.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he had directed state agencies to provide medical care, investigate the collision promptly and hold anyone found responsible for negligence accountable. He also offered condolences to bereaved families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
The collision prompted calls for further safety work from an eyewitness and a senator interviewed by China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Wahid Al-Jamal, who witnessed the incident, urged authorities to address how residents cross railway lines and how railway personnel communicate with drivers.
"The railway system requires a complete overhaul. It is essential to build tunnels or overpasses in villages along the tracks to ensure residents don't cross the lines directly. Furthermore, the signal and communications systems between control tower personnel and train drivers must be upgraded to warn express train drivers of slower ones ahead, ensuring regulated operations and preventing accidents," said Jamal.
Emad El-Din Hussein, editor-in-chief of Al-Shorouk newspaper and a member of Egypt’s Senate, acknowledged government spending on the transport network but argued that further work remained necessary.
Speaking to CGTN in Cairo, he assessed the railway modernisation programme and the safety challenges that remained.
"The railway system was dilapidated and beset by many challenges. However, a major process of reorganization, reconstruction, and modernization has begun. Notably, over the past four years or so, there have been no train accidents of the same scale or severity. While efforts are indeed being made, they are still not enough. The bottom line is that we require further work until we can eliminate these incidents, or at the very least, reduce them to an absolute minimum," said Hussein.
He also supported the president’s instruction to investigate possible negligence, while stressing that technical investigators must establish what happened.
"Following the incident, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi posted a tweet in which he expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, directed that the injured receive prompt medical care, and called for an investigation to hold anyone found negligent accountable. This is a crucial step, as holding those at fault responsible can serve as a deterrent, helping to reduce the occurrence of further accidents and harm. While we must wait for the results of the technical investigations, it is worth noting that Egypt has experienced such fatal train accidents in the past," said the elected official.
Egypt has pursued railway modernisation programmes against a history of poorly maintained equipment, management problems and fatal crashes. In September, a collision involving freight trains in the same district injured a driver and his assistant.
Al-Ayyat was also the scene of the country’s deadliest railway disaster. In February 2002, fire swept through a passenger train travelling from Cairo towards Luxor, killing hundreds of people. Contemporary reports recorded at least 373 deaths.