Egypt: The Al-Ayat train accident sparks a parliamentary debate on railway safety

- The Al-Ayat train collision accident in Giza Governorate, south of Cairo, which resulted in the death of seven people and the injury of 125 others, brought the issue of railway safety in Egypt back to the forefront of discussion, after the Transport and Communications Committee of the House of Representatives held a meeting in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, and Counselor Hani Hanna, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, to discuss the circumstances of the accident, its causes, and the necessary measures to prevent its recurrence. The meeting, which lasted about five hours, witnessed discussions regarding the political and technical responsibility for the accident, and the adequacy of the safety and development measures implemented by the Ministry of Transport.

While representatives demanded a study of the recurrence of accidents at the Al-Ayyat Center and holding those who were negligent accountable, others believed that the accident alone is not enough to describe the railway system as suffering from an institutional defect, based on the decline in total train accidents in recent years, they said. The meeting came out, according to statements by a member of the House of Representatives, Mohamed Salah Abu Hamila, a member of the Transport and Communications Committee, with more than 25 recommendations related to developing safety and operating procedures, while the Minister of Transport confirmed his readiness to implement the technical recommendations that will be issued by the committee formed by the Public Prosecution.

Representative Abu Hamila said that the discussions focused on the need to study the causes of repeated train accidents in the Al-Ayat Center, noting that the latest accident is the ninth in the center in several years now. Abu Hamila added, in statements to Ofek News in Arabic, that the representatives demanded a study of the accidents that the region witnessed from 2002 until now, and an analysis of the reasons for their occurrence, especially in the villages located along the railway line, instead of dealing with each accident as a separate incident.

He pointed out that the Minister of Transport responded to the representatives' demands, pointing out that the discussions did not aim to level accusations as much as they sought to identify shortcomings and reach practical measures to prevent the recurrence of accidents. Abu Hamila believed that there were human errors related to dealing with the signaling system, explaining that the red signal required the train to stop, but failure to adhere to operating procedures led to it colliding with the train stopped in front of it.

He stressed the need to raise the efficiency of training railway workers, seriously implement accountability, in addition to reviewing safety and automatic control systems, noting that determining final responsibilities must await the results of the Public Prosecution’s investigations and the specialized technical examination. Abu Hamila said that the minister pledged to implement the recommendations that will be issued by the technical committee formed by the Public Prosecution as soon as they are completed. The parliamentary committee also completed the preparation of more than 25 recommendations, which were delivered to the Deputy Minister of Transport to be presented to the minister and to follow up on their implementation.

Regarding the responsibility of the Minister of Transport for the accident, Abu Hamila said that the entire minister acknowledged during the meeting that political responsibility falls on the minister by virtue of his position, but he expressed his refusal to hold him directly responsible for individual human error before completing investigations and determining responsibilities. He added that evaluating the ministry's performance should take into account the railway and infrastructure development projects being implemented, pointing to the high-speed electric train, goods trains, monorail and other transportation projects.

He explained that the meeting witnessed the presence of more than a hundred members, and that the discussions took place transparently, with representatives being given the opportunity to raise criticisms, reservations, and inquiries within the framework of parliamentary regulations. On the other hand, Member of Parliament Irene Saeed refused to consider the recent train accidents as sufficient evidence of a comprehensive institutional defect in the railway system, calling for an evaluation of the sector’s performance based on the overall data of accidents and development indicators over the past years.

Saeed said, in statements to Ofek News in Arabic, that the number of train accidents decreased from 220 accidents in 2024 to 170 accidents in 2025, considering that this decrease must be taken into account when evaluating the performance of the Ministry of Transport, in addition to the necessity of investigating accidents and holding those responsible accountable for any errors proven by investigations. Saeed added that the occurrence of accidents remains a possibility in various transportation systems in the world, stressing that the presence of errors does not necessarily mean that the entire system suffers from an institutional defect, but at the same time she stressed that this does not exempt officials from accountability or reduce the importance of addressing deficiencies.

She pointed out that the Ministry of Transport is implementing large projects to develop infrastructure and modernize facilities, and that these projects require large investments and long-term financing, considering that evaluating the sector should not ignore the development achieved over the past years. Regarding political responsibility, Saeed said that the Minister of Transport bears political responsibility by virtue of his position, and that his presence before Parliament and his clarification of the circumstances of the accident and the measures that the ministry intends to take is normal, especially if investigations reveal problems in safety or operating systems.

She added that the role of the House of Representatives is not limited to discussing the accident after it occurs, but rather includes following up on the implementation of safety procedures and updating on an ongoing basis, noting that the Transport and Communications Committee had previously discussed repeated accidents during the year 2022, and submitted urgent briefing and data requests regarding them, and also listened to the Minister of Transport’s clarifications in the committee’s meetings and plenary sessions. She said that these discussions resulted in the development of some procedures, and the representatives put forward proposals to address dangerous points on the railway lines, stressing that following up on the implementation of the recommendations is also done through the complaints that the representatives receive from citizens and the problems that they monitor on the ground.