Egypt’s Railway Ticketing System Restored After Ramses Central Fire Disruption

Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has fully restored its electronic train booking system, following a temporary disruption caused by the fire that broke out at the historic Ramses Central Telecommunications Building earlier this week.

According to a well-informed source, train reservation services have returned to normal operations, both online and at physical ticketing outlets, after firefighting teams brought the blaze under control. The incident had briefly impacted the digital infrastructure supporting Egypt’s national railway booking platform.

“There was a partial outage in the early hours of the fire, but system engineers acted quickly to reroute and stabilize booking operations,” the source said.

Minimal Impact on Passengers

Despite the disruption, the railway authority emphasized that no train schedules were affected, and passengers who had difficulty booking tickets were assisted through alternative methods. The issue mainly affected online reservations and digital ticketing terminals at select stations.

The temporary disruption was due to internet and communications outages linked to the Ramses Central Exchange, which also impacted sectors such as banking, utilities, and stock trading.

A Symbolic Infrastructure

The Ramses Central building, located in downtown Cairo, is not only a critical telecommunications hub but also a symbol of Egypt’s digital backbone, handling a significant volume of fixed-line and internet traffic across Greater Cairo.

Civil protection authorities successfully contained the fire without casualties, and restoration efforts began immediately afterward in coordination with multiple government bodies.

Railway Operations Uninterrupted

Egypt’s railway operator confirmed that train services continued uninterrupted, and any technical issues experienced were limited to the reservation system, not the actual transport network.

“Train traffic was never halted. The disruption was isolated to the booking system and has now been resolved,” a spokesperson for the railway authority said.