CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Transportation Zein al-Abideen opened the first stage of Cairo's refurbished railway station today. Chairman of the Railway Authority Hany Hegab delivered a speech about the different stages that Egypt's railway witnessed since its establishment in 1856. He said that Egypt's trains transfer about 500 million passengers and 6.2 million tons of commodities per year. Abideen gave the go-ahead to develop Cairo's railway station in 2008. Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf apologized for not attending today's ceremony.