Egypt train 1935 derailment in Matrouh leaves 3 dead and 103 injured

Lire en français : Déraillement du train 1935 en Égypte, 3 morts et 103 blessés à Matrouh

Three people died and 103 were injured when seven coaches of train 1935 left the rails in Egypt's Matrouh governorate on 30 August 2025, the Health Ministry said. The national railway authority reopened the line the next morning, but the cause of the derailment has still not been made public.

The air-conditioned, Russian-built train came off the track at around 15:30 at kilometre 203 of the Matrouh–Cairo line, between Fouka and Galal stations west of El Dabaa, according to a statement from Egyptian National Railways (ENR) carried by the Egyptian press. Two of the seven derailed coaches overturned in open desert. Hospitals in Matrouh and neighbouring governorates were put on alert and more than 50 ambulances were sent, Africanews reported, adding that 87 of the injured had been treated and discharged by the evening.

Early tolls varied. Al Jazeera, quoting the authorities, reported 94 injured on 31 August, while the Health Ministry count cited by Africanews stood at 103.

Track back in use within a day

ENR said on 31 August that trains were running again on the Alexandria–Matrouh line after crews worked through the night under Transport Ministry supervision. Cranes lifted the damaged coaches clear, and track teams dealt with what the operator described as subsidence of the track bed at the site, according to its statements of 30 and 31 August.

That subsidence is the detail most often quoted as the cause, including by Africanews. ENR itself did not go that far. Its statement mentioned the subsidence works and handed the question of cause to a technical committee formed by Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, who visited the scene and promised the "maximum penalty" for anyone found responsible. An earlier version of this article said the authority had confirmed subsidence as the cause; that was not supported by its statement.

Prosecutors have looked first at the crew. The Matrouh prosecution extended the detention of the driver and his assistant by four days on 1 September 2025, on suspicion of causing the accident, and released six block signalling inspectors from the Fouka–Matrouh section, Egypt Telegraph reported.

A known risk on desert track

Reopening a line within 24 hours of a fatal derailment shows that the damage was local, but it does not settle whether the track bed gave way under the train or after the coaches left the rails. Settlement of the formation on sandy ground distorts track geometry gradually, which is why it is normally caught by regular geometry recording rather than by drivers. Whether that monitoring took place on this section before 30 August is one of the questions the committee's report would need to answer. As of 1 November 2026, TrainsNews has found no published findings and no court ruling on the merits.

The crash came as Egypt spends heavily on rail. TrainsNews has covered Hitachi Rail's modernisation contract on the Cairo–Alexandria line. The same north coast is due to get the first 660 km high-speed line, from Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh via Cairo, Alexandria and New Alamein, with 21 stations and trains running at up to 250 km/h. El-Wazir has set July 2027 for the start of passenger services, Egyptian Streets reported on 2 October 2026.

The next milestone in the Matrouh case is the technical committee's report, which should say whether the track, the driving or both were at fault. Follow our coverage of rail accidents.

Sources: Egypt Telegraph, ENR statement (30/08/2025); Egypt Telegraph, ENR statement on reopening (31/08/2025); Egypt Telegraph, Matrouh prosecution (01/09/2025); Africanews, Health Ministry toll (31/08/2025); Al Jazeera (31/08/2025); Egyptian Streets (02/10/2026).

Photo: Talgo coaches of Egyptian National Railways in the yard at Alexandria station, April 2023. Abdelrhman 1990, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Article written with the help of AI from the sources cited above, reviewed by the TrainsNews editorial team. Real photo, credited below the image. Spotted an error? contact@trainsnews.com – Our AI charter