TRANSPORTATION IN EGYPT

There are about 8600Km (5300 miles) of railways in Egypt with the major one following the course of the River Nile from Aswan, in the south, to Marsa Matruh on the Mediterranean coast; a distance of 1415Km (879 miles). This route offers travellers the choice of seated and sleeper trains and it is one of the cheapest ways to get to the main tourist sites as Luxor, Cairo and Alexandria are 3 of the stations which it passes through. Because this line starts, or ends, in Aswan, anyone who wishes to travel onwards to Abu Simbel need to do so by road, using one of the 2 daily convoys, or flight.

Cairo, which is the major hub of the railway network, also offers rail transport to either Port Said or Suez. Unfortunately, Suez is the closest point which railways go to the Sinai, so it is not possible to journey by rail to any of the resorts located there. This also applies to Hurghada, which also has no rail network.

Egypt has plenty of roads, approximately 38,000Km (23,600 miles) of them, which includes about 18,000Km (11,200 miles) of highways. Every city, town or village are connected by road, even the towns in the various oases; though many of these roads are more suitable for 4x4 vehicles. There are 5 highways which join Cairo with Alexandria (2 of them do this), Port Said, Suez and the Fayoum. Buses help connect all of the cities, towns and villages together, but many of the routes are either not advised, or not permitted, for tourism purposes; this especially applies to the Cairo to Luxor/Aswan route.

The River Nile is fully navigable throughout its course, though restrictions on cruise boats have been in place since the mid 90’s; they only now sail between Luxor and Aswan. As well as this famous river there are over 1600Km of shipping canals in the country, with an additional 17,700Km (11,000 miles) if irrigation canals in the Delta, which are primarily used for transportation reasons.

When first opened, in 1869, the Suez Canal was 164Km (102 miles) long and 8 metres (26 feet) deep, but with major improvements it is now 193.25Km (120.42 miles) long and 24 metres (79 feet) deep. This improved distance comprises of: the northern access channel, 22Km (14 miles) long; the canal itself, 162.25Km (100.82 miles); and the southern access channel, 9Km (5.6 miles) long. The canal has no locks and seawater flows freely throughout its length. The Suez Canal, which was closed between 1967 and 1975, provides one of the major revenues for Egypt, the income being received from tolls for usage. The average transit time is 14 hours and in 2007, 18,193 vessels passed through it.

Flying from Cairo airport is the quickest, and most convenient, method to reach tourist destinations such as: Abu Simbel; Alexandria; Aswan; Hurghada; Luxor; Marsa Alam; Sharm el-Sheikh; and Taba, though many more towns and cities can be reached by domestic flights from Cairo.

Egypt’s major port is Alexandria, along with Port Said and Suez. They are all served by numerous shipping companies, though nowadays this is mainly a commercial operation. Though Mediterranean cruise ships still dock in Alexandria, allowing their passengers the opportunity to visit the city (or even Cairo) Egypt is no longer connected to other ports in the Mediterranean Sea due to the ongoing problems in Palestine and Israel.

In the deserts it is still possible to see the occasional camel caravan, but this mode of transport is disappearing quickly and you can only get a very limited sight of them.

DISTANCES BETWEEN MAJOR TOWNS IN EGYPT

The distances to the left are in Km, and the ones to the right are in miles

Egypt bus timetable