Sources in the Railway Authority said that security agencies asked them to stop trains coming from Assiut and Minya to the country's capital after intelligence reports said that the Muslim Brotherhood is mobilizing members and supporters in other governorates on trains.
Publicly, however, the Railway Authority has officially announced that the halt in service is due to a technical failure that may put the lives of passengers at risk.
Security officials found out that the occupancy rate of the 15 operating trains is 100 percent, which amounts to approximately 20 thousand passengers.
On normal days, the occupancy rate is around 70 percent.
The sources added that the authority decided to continue running trains from Cairo to Upper Egypt, but it will halt trains coming from Upper Egypt to Cairo until after the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution.
The authority expressed its deepest apologies to passengers for the shutdown and asked them to request a refund from the nearest train station for their canceled tickets.
The statement did not mention when operations would resume.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
