Speaking to El-Shorouk news website, Amer said the freight sector’s annual revenues did not exceed EGP 300 million before the partnership, compared with operating costs of around EGP 1.3 billion, resulting in losses of nearly EGP 1 billion each year.
He added that the economic model underwent a complete transformation after the consortium took over the management and operation of freight transport.
Under the partnership, the consortium became responsible for workers’ wages, fuel, maintenance, and operating costs, while also paying fees for using the authority’s locomotives, wagons, and railway tracks, Amer said.
He noted that the arrangement has ended the sector’s losses and generated financial returns and profits for the authority, turning freight transport into a revenue source that supports ENR’s resources.
Amer also said Egypt is moving ahead with plans to strengthen railway links with neighbouring countries as part of a broader strategy to boost regional integration, expand trade, facilitate passenger and freight movement, and reinforce the country’s position as a regional transport and logistics hub.
He clarified that the proposed railway link with Sudan is among the top priorities, with studies currently underway to establish a line connecting Abu Simbel in southern Egypt with Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan.
The project aims to maximize the corridor's economic value and improve services for residential, agricultural, and commercial communities along the route, Amer said.
He added that the line would facilitate the movement of passengers and goods, reflecting the depth of the historical and strategic relations between Egypt and Sudan.
Amer said Egypt’s regional railway connectivity plan also extends westward via a planned link to Libya, aimed at facilitating the movement of people and goods between the two countries and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
The Libya project includes establishing a railway line connecting Matrouh with Gargoub Port and rehabilitating the Samla-Salloum line, he added.
The line is planned to be extended in the future to Benghazi, creating integration between the Egyptian and Libyan railway networks and opening new prospects for trade and joint development.
Egypt has been accelerating its railway modernization programme through three main priorities: upgrading freight and logistics corridors, expanding domestic railway manufacturing, and increasing private-sector participation in rail operations.
In June, ENR signed four contracts, worth 690 million euros, with an Alstom-led consortium to modernize strategic corridors linking Greater Cairo, Alexandria, industrial zones, dry ports, and seaports.
The projects include signalling upgrades, double-tracking, telecommunications, power systems, and track rehabilitation. They are intended to strengthen freight transport and support Egypt's plan to build eight integrated logistics corridors linking production zones with Red Sea and Mediterranean ports.
The freight push was evident last week, when three freight trains carrying 75 export containers from Robbiki Leather City arrived at Sokhna Port for shipment to Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia.
The state is also linking railway development to its port and logistics strategy.
Egypt is developing eight international logistics corridors as part of a national plan to transform the country into a regional logistics centre, with the broader plan integrating seaports, railways, dry ports, and logistics corridors nationwide.
Egyptian ports handled 11.1 million TEUs in 2025, up 24.3 percent from 2024, driven largely by a 36 percent rise in transit container traffic.
Private-sector participation has become a recurring theme in railway policy.
In April, Egypt signed agreements with the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company to manufacture and supply 500 air-conditioned passenger railcars and establish a company to operate railway maintenance workshops.
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