How historic network modernises for the future
Egyptian National Railways (ENR) is recognised as the first railway network established in Africa and the Middle East, and the second in the world after the United Kingdom. Construction originally began in 1834 when tracks were extended along the Suez–Alexandria line. However, work was halted due to political reasons. The concept was subsequently revived in 1851 to extend the network across all of Egypt’s governorates.
The country’s first operational railway line was laid between Cairo and Alexandria. Established by an English company during the era of Khedive Abbas I, who assumed power in 1848 and ruled for six years until 1854, the network was designed to facilitate and accelerate the transport of mail and travellers between Europe, particularly England, and India, which was England’s largest colony in the East. Prior to this, transport between Europe and India relied on a combined route: ships arrived from Europe at the Port of Alexandria, passengers and cargo were transported by road to Cairo and onward to the Port of Suez, and they then sailed via the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to reach India.
To execute the project, which is regarded as the first of its kind in the Mashreq, the English company enlisted the assistance of Robert Stephenson, the son of the steam train’s inventor. Khedive Abbas I signed a contract with Stephenson valued at £56,000 to establish a 209-kilometre railway linking the Egyptian capital to Alexandria. Stephenson supervised the sourcing of all necessary equipment for the project, with construction ultimately commencing in 1852 and concluding in 1856.
The year 1854 witnessed the operation of the first locomotive on Egypt’s premier railway line between Cairo and Kafr El-Zayat City in the Delta region. The complete Cairo–Alexandria line was finished in 1856. Two years later, a second line was inaugurated between Cairo and Suez, followed two years later by the commencement of the Cairo–Port Said line. In 1887, authorities began considering the establishment of a railway line in Upper Egypt. Under Khedive Ismail, the railways were rehabilitated, and he exerted great effort to extend the lines throughout the country to promote development and facilitate trade and transportation across different regions.
Railway lines were eventually extended from the far south of Egypt – south of Wadi Halfa – to the far north in Alexandria, as well as across the cities of the Delta and Al-Fayoum. In 1898, construction started on a third line running from Cairo to Luxor. A private enterprise, the Qena-Aswan Railways Company, was established to extend the tracks to Aswan in the far south. Following the British entry into Sudan in 1899, occupation authorities decided to modify the train line from Luxor to Aswan and the first waterfall in the far south of Egypt, integrating it as a standard extension of the national network. This project was completed in 1926 when the line was extended to Wadi Halfa within the Sudanese borders.
Egypt entered the era of suburban rail transport when the Helwan line, connecting central Cairo with the suburb of Helwan, was extended between 1870 and 1872. Shortly thereafter, urban trams spread across Cairo under the management of Belgian and French companies, becoming the capital’s primary means of public transportation during the first quarter of the twentieth century.
During the First World War, the British initiated plans for a railway connecting Egypt with Palestine to serve the war effort. Work on the line from Qantara Sharq, on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, to Gaza began and was completed in 1918, following the outbreak of the First World War (1914–1919). Subsequently, the outbreak of the Second World War (1940–1945) further heightened the strategic importance of the network, as British forces relied primarily on these lines to transport supplies, ammunition, and soldiers.
Following the Revolution of July 23, 1952, the revolutionary government prioritised the development of these lines, supplying them with carriages to transport citizens. The state’s focus on constructing the High Dam also drove railway development, as the lines were essential for transporting construction tools and materials for workers on the massive project. At the time, the state’s infrastructure development plan targeted renewing and maintaining tracks, expanding and supporting the rolling stock fleet, improving operational efficiency, and upgrading transport services with new trains. Safety measures were also enhanced through the introduction of electrical signalling, the renewal of level crossings, the implementation of central control systems, and the development of specialised workshops to handle the periodic maintenance of passenger and freight rolling stock.
Today, ENR operates 9,570 kilometres of railway tracks, serving 23 governorates and transporting approximately 420 million passengers annually. The network comprises 705 stations, 1,332 level crossings, 3,040 passenger coaches (including 850 air-conditioned models), 8,553 cargo wagons, 793 locomotives, 826 bridges, 100 tunnels, 6 regions, 9 sectors, and 8 subsidiaries. It also holds 191 million square metres of land investment-ready land, alongside an EGP 11 billion investment plan allocated for the 2019/2020 fiscal year. ENR remains vital to national passenger and freight transport, effectively linking all major ports through dedicated rail connections.
Backed by close attention and support from the political leadership, particularly under the directive of Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazeer, ENR has been executing a comprehensive development plan. This strategy includes modernising stations, constructing protective fencing along both sides of the tracks to safeguard ENR property, upgrading signalling systems across most lines, renewing tracks, and developing level crossings.
As part of this modern strategic overhaul, Egypt has also launched several major railway infrastructure projects to expand network capacity and improve transportation services. The most prominent of these initiatives include the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the 6th of October Monorail (West Nile Monorail), the East Nile Monorail, the modernisation of Alexandria Railway Station, the construction of the Bashteel Upper Egypt Railway Station, and the Kafr Dawood–Sadat Railway Line Project.
