CAIRO, March 3, 2018 -- Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail on Saturday issued instructions for reviewing railway safety measures. Ismail's instructions come only days after yet a new railway tragedy hit in the Nile Delta Governorate of Beheira and caused several people to lose their lives and dozens of others to be injured. The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of abidance by railway operation regulations for workers. He said at a meeting with Transport Minister Hesham Arafat that abidance by these regulations could save lives. The prime minister's discussions with the transport minister focused efforts made by the Transport Ministry to deal with the Beheira railway tragedy. The accident, Arafat said, is now being investigated by the prosecution which is analyzing the data of the train's black box. He said a number of projects were being implemented to upgrade the railways. The upgrade started in 2015, the minister said, and should bear fruit soon, but in a gradual manner. The Transport Ministry should complete the comprehensive upgrade of the railways in 2022, Arafat said, noting that the plan being carried out in this regard would cost his ministry a staggering 55 billion Egyptian pounds (roughly $3.2 billion).
