Boosted by fare hikes, ENR pays second billion of debt to Petroleum Corporation

Egyptian National Railways (ENR) paid a fresh 1 billion Egyptian pounds (about $19 million) to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) over the past few days as a second installment under a plan to settle a 6 billion pound ($114 million) total debt accrued from its monthly fuel needs, according to a member of ENR’s board of directors, who confirmed to Al Manassa that ticket price hikes approved this year helped, alongside other measures, boost the authority’s resources.

The debt owed to the petroleum sector accumulated since 2016 due to economic reform measures, including fuel price increases. ENR is working to ease this burden after debt service pushed it back into losses this year, following a surplus it achieved in 2025.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said ENR previously paid a similar 1 billion pounds to EGPC last year as a first installment and aims to pay an additional 400 million pounds ($7.6 million) before the end of the current fiscal year.

In 2024, the railway authority concluded an agreement stipulating the settlement of its accumulated debt to EGPC over a five-year period.

The source explained that ENR pays its outstanding debt to EGPC from its own resources while paying for new fuel supplies regularly in cash to prevent further debt accumulation.

ENR has introduced successive ticket price increases in recent years, most recently in March and July, helping strengthen revenues against rising fuel costs. However, this has also raised ticket prices for the roughly 1.5 million passengers who use railway services daily.

ENR’s revenues rose to about 8.8 billion pounds ($167 million) between January and the end of September 2026, up from 7.2 billion pounds ($137 million) during the same period last year, marking a 23% growth rate, according to the source.

The source attributed the improvement to measures aimed at strengthening financial resources, foremost among them the ticket price hikes implemented this year, alongside an expenditure rationalization program and higher returns on authority-owned assets, which improved spending efficiency and provided resources to cover operating costs.