Egypt is currently upgrading and carrying out maintenance work on 156 train stations throughout the country at a total cost of around EGP 1 billion, the transportation ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The work is part of a greater plan to revamp the national railway network at a cost of EGP 55 billion by 2022.

The transportation ministry spokesman Mohamed Ezz said that the development efforts aim to improve services for train passengers.

Minister of Transportation Hisham Arafat has issued instructions that the deadlines for completing the maintenance projects should be met while ensuring the safety of passengers as the maintenance work is being carried out. 

Ezz said that the development efforts include installing at railway all the necessary electrical and fire fighting equipment, as well as building ramps for people with special needs.

The plan also includes upgrading electrical wiring systems at the railway stations and deploying civil safety personnel.

Twenty-three of the 156 stations are undergoing upgrades at a cost of $451 million, and the remaining 133 stations are undergoing maintenance.

The development work has been completed at 13 of the 23 stations, with work on the remaining 10 set to be completed by June 2019.

The 133 railway stations are undergoing maintenance at a cost of EGP 262 million. Work has been completed at 79 of the stations.

Egypt's railway system has a poor safety record, with frequent deadly collisions often blamed on a lack of maintenance and poor management.

In 2017, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed the need to upgrade the country's railway network to prevent deadly accidents, stating that the system needs EGP 180 billion (about $10 billion) to be modernised.