Egypt’s Ageing Infrastructure and Mismanagement Claims Four Lives in Latest Train Crash

• Train overshot the station and crashed into buffers, derailing the locomotive and first carriage, leaving four people dead and over 20 injured.

• Pictures from the site showed rescue workers using a crane overnight to lift the partially crumpled derailed coach.

• Families of the victims in the recent train accident will receive compensation worth 100,000 Egyptian pounds, with a similar amount provided to those who were seriously injured.

• Egypt’s President pledged to hold accountable those responsible for the recurrent deadly rail accidents in the country, with the transport minister previously firing the rail authority’s head following uproar over mismanagement of dilapidated train lines.

• Egypt’s rail network, which over 105 million people depend on, is riddled with problems, including frequent train breakdowns and track accidents, with a pledge to set up an automated network by 2024 and the construction of a new high-speed network to replace existing lines.

Egypt was hit by yet another train crash, leaving four people dead and over 20 injured, as officials attributed the tragedy to the nation’s ageing infrastructure and mismanagement.

According to the National Railways Authority, the train overshot the station and ran into the buffers at the end of the track after passing through a stop signal in Qalyub, a Nile Delta city north of Cairo, which resulted in the derailment of the locomotive and the first carriage.

Pictures from the site showed rescue workers using a crane overnight to lift the derailed coach, which appeared to be partially crumpled. The health ministry later confirmed that four people had been killed and 23 injured, doubling the number of deaths announced overnight. The solidarity ministry stated that the families of the victims in the recent train accident would receive compensation worth 100,000 Egyptian pounds, with a similar amount being provided to those who were seriously injured.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged to hold accountable those responsible for the recurrent deadly rail accidents in the Arab world’s most populous country. In April 2021, the transport minister had fired the rail authority’s head following uproar over the mismanagement of dilapidated train lines. This move came after two train accidents in less than a month that claimed the lives of over 40 people.

Egypt has one of the largest rail transport networks on the African continent, with over 105 million people dependent on it. However, the country’s rail network is riddled with problems, including the frequent breakdown of trains and track accidents. The transport minister acknowledged in 2021 that the “human element” is often to blame for the deadly accidents and pledged to set up an automated network by 2024, as part of the marquee projects promised by Sisi’s administration.

These projects also include the construction of a new high-speed network to replace existing lines for which contracts have been awarded. Egypt’s roads also witness frequent deadly accidents, which are often blamed on poor maintenance and rules flouted by drivers. According to official figures, in 2021, approximately 7,000 people died on Egyptian roads.

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