Train times for the most popular routes are shown further down this page:

Cairo - Alexandria

Cairo - Luxor - Aswan

Cairo - Suez

Cairo & Alexandria - Port Said

Cairo & Alexandria - El Alamein - Mersa Matruh

Egyptian National Railways does not have a website.  You should check train times locally before traveling.  

Fares:

Fares are extremely cheap by European and American standards.  Take your student ISIC card if you have one - these may give you a 33% reduction. Some very approximate one-way fares are shown below:

In Egypt:

You can buy tickets at the railway station booking office when you get to Egypt, although as with anything else in Egypt, a degree of patience is called for...  Alternatively, if you don't mind paying commission, you can use a local travel agent to buy tickets on your behalf.

Outside Egypt:

If you are short of time (or patience...) and particularly want to book your Egyptian train tickets before you arrive in Egypt, you can book train tickets by e-mail through a few Egyptian travel companies:

• Arab Travel Agency

• Egyptian Travel Service

• New Star Tours

• Osiris Tours

Cairo to Alexandria

There is an excellent train service between Alexandria and Cairo, with three sorts of train:  Ordinary trains with very basic 2nd & 3rd class, express trains with comfortable air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class, and best of all, the pride of the Egyptian Railways, the superfast French-built 'Turbotrains', which eat up the 130 miles in just 2 hours 10 minutes.  Fares:  A 1st class one-way ticket for an air-conditioned express from Cairo to Alexandria costs about LE 25.

Turbo - Superfast TURBOTRAIN, comfortable air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class with refreshments. Recommended train.

Exp - Air-conditioned express, comfortable air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class with refreshments.  Recommended train.

Ord - Ordinary train, with very basic 2nd & 3rd class.  Trains marked 'Ord+' also have air-conditioned 2nd class.

Cairo to Luxor and Aswan

There are four different ways to travel by train between Cairo, Luxor and Aswan :  

• Daytime air-conditioned express train with comfortable 1st & 2nd class seats.  The journey takes most of the day, but just relax and enjoy the scenery.  The trains run along the Nile for much of the journey, past palm trees, camels, and fellahin working in the fields.  Cairo to Luxor in 1st class costs about LE 50.  Cairo to Aswan costs about LE 60.

• Overnight air-conditioned express train with comfortable 1st & 2nd class seats - see the 'air-conditioned express' pictures above.  This saves time compared with traveling by day, but costs less than the deluxe sleeper.  Cairo to Aswan costs about LE 60 one-way 1st class air-conditioned.  Take a fleece or jumper - the air-con can be quite powerful..!

• Overnight deluxe sleeper:  To save time and travel in comfort, take the deluxe overnight sleeping-car train.  This has modern air-conditioned sleeping-cars with 1- and 2-berth rooms, and a club / lounge car - see the photos below.  The fare includes an evening tray-meal and breakfast.  The sleeper train is now run by a company called Abela Egypt, and special tourist-orientated fares apply, about US$50 per person one-way sharing a 2-berth compartment or US$70 in a 1-berth compartment from Cairo to either Luxor or Aswan.  Passengers traveling alone who don't want to pay the extra for a single-berth compartment will be booked into a 2-berth compartment with another traveler of the same sex.  For more information on the Abela Egypt sleeper train, see www.sleepingtrains.com. 

• Slow trains:  There are also 2nd & 3rd class slow trains, which are very basic and not recommended for tourists - see the 'ordinary trains' pictures towards the top of the page.  Government restrictions have recently been introduced which may prevent tourists from using these trains at all, unless you simply get on without a ticket and pay the conductor on board.

* Recommended trains  (comfortable air-con expresses by day, sleeper train at night).

Exp - Air-conditioned express, comfortable air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class seats with refreshments.

Ord - Ordinary train.  2nd & 3rd class seats.  Trains marked 'Ord+' also have air-conditioned 2nd class seats.

Sleeper - Special deluxe sleeping-car train (with lounge car) run by Abela Egypt, see www.sleepingtrains.com for info & booking.  

Trains (other than the sleeper train) can also be used for travel between Luxor and Aswan.  Most trains also call at Asyût, Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna.  All trains call at El Giza station about 20 minutes after leaving / before arriving at Cairo.

Cairo to Port Said

Ord+ - Ordinary train, with 2nd class air-conditioned and 3rd class non-A/C.
Exp - Express train with air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class.
Fares:  About LE 14 one-way 2nd class, or UK £2.

Cairo to Suez

Fares:  One-way 2nd class:  about LE 6.

Ord - Ordinary train, with 2nd & 3rd class non-A/C.  

Cairo/Alexandria to El Alamein and Mersa Matruh

Ord - Ordinary train, with 2nd & 3rd class non-A/C.
Exp - Express train with air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class