Luxor

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Travelling by Train

When travelling by train in southern Egypt all you can really do is go north towards Cairo or south towards Aswan.  If you want to get to the Red Sea it is necessary to make all, or part, of the journey by bus.  Places such as Alexandria and Port Said on the Mediterranean coast can be reached by train from Cairo.

Luxor Station - Waiting for the Cairo train.

Luxor Station is in the centre of Luxor at the bottom end of Sharia Mahatta (Station Street).  It has recently undergone complete renovation with remodelling of the ticket hall and refurbishment of all the platforms.

Cairo to Luxor - Luxor to Cairo

There are many more trains running than tourists can buy actually buy tickets for at the ticket office.  This is for security reasons.  You will only be able to buy tickets for those trains that have security guards on them; these are the express trains and they have both first class and second class air conditioned carriages.  It does not mean that you cannot travel on the ordinary trains because you can buy a ticket from the conductor when you are on board but Europeans are discouraged from travelling on these local trains.  Ordinary trains have second and third class carriages but third class carriages should only really be used by the experienced traveller although it can be a very interesting way to see and meet local people.

Cairo ► Luxor ► Aswan:
Train type:		Exp*	Exp	Exp	Ord	Ord+	Exp	Ord+	Ord+	Ord+	Exp	Ord+	sleeper	sleeper	Exp	Exp	Exp*	Exp
Alexandria	depart	-	2215	-	-	0710	-	-	-	1245	-	-	-	17:20	-	1610	-	-
Cairo	depart	0030	0115	07:00	0745	1010	11:00	1245	1405	1600	1845	1915	20:00	20:30	2045	2100	2200	2250
Luxor	arr/dep	0940	1025	17:05	1935	2000	20:55	2330	0025	0245	0405	0525	05:10	05:40	0555	0620	0715	0830
Isna	arrive	1025	-	17:50	2021	-	21:39	-	-	0331	0450	0612	|	06:25	-	0707	0800	|
Edfu	arrive	1110	-	18:30	2107	-	22:20	-	-	0417	0535	0700	06:35	07:15	-	0750	0845	|
Kom Ombo	arrive	1200	-	19:25	2200	-	23:10	-	-	0510	0625	0755	|	08:16	-	0835	0945	|
Aswan	arrive	1250	-	20:10	2255	-	00:00	-	-	0605	0710	0845	08:10	09:00	-	0920	1030	1130

Aswan ► Luxor ► Cairo:
Train type:		Ord+	Exp	Exp	Exp	Slow	Ord+	Ord+	Exp	Exp	sleeper	Exp*	sleeper	Ord+	Exp*	Exp	Ord+	Ord+
Aswan	depart	-	06:00	07:30	-	0930	-	1330	1600	-	17:00	1800	18:30	1900	2000	2100	2145	2330
Kom Ombo	depart	-	06:45	08:15	-	1020	-	1420	1638	-	17:45	1842	|	1943	2038	2138	2225	0015
Edfu	depart	-	07:40	09:05	-	1112	-	1510	1725	-	18:40	1930	20:05	2040	2130	2225	2330	0115
Isna	depart	-	08:30	09:55	-	1205	-	1601	1815	-	19:27	2020	|	2135	2220	2315	0021	0155
Luxor	arr/dep	0800	09:30	10:55	12:45	1310	1530	1700	1910	2040	20:20	2115	21:45	2235	2315	0015	0120	0315
Cairo	arrive	1830	19:30	21:10	22:00	0030	0300	0415	0415	0550	05:35	0610	06:45	0905	0820	0920	1230	1415
Alexandria	arrive	2200	-	-	01:00	-	-	0625	0700	-	09:10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

By European standards the cost of train travel is very inexpensive.  It only costs between 60 LE and 75 LE (£6 - £7.50) to make the whole journey between Luxor and Cairo travelling first class with a reclining seat in an air-conditioned carriage.  Passengers with student cards get a one third reduction in this cost.

Tickets on the de-luxe sleeper trains, which are run by a private company, are much more expensive and have to be paid for in foreign currency.  Tickets cost £35 for shared occupancy and £50 for single occupancy.

The overnight express trains have carriages that go under the name of Nefertari which have six-seat compartments.  Tickets are inexpensive but the six-seat carriages can be noisy, crowded and uncomfortable but they are ideal for the budget traveller and save the cost of a hotel room for the night.

Getting a ticket in Cairo can take a very long time and involves a lot of shouting, pushing and shoving so if you are nervous about getting a ticket yourself, ask a member of the hotel staff if they will get one for you.  This will cost you the price of the ticket plus about and another 20 LE.  (You will most likely be told that the ticket seller had to be given baksheesh and then there is the baksheesh for the person who went).  It is a small sum to avoid considerable hassle.  Buying tickets in Luxor is not so difficult but it can still be very time consuming.

The ticket system operates on a fixed number of tickets being allocated for each section of the journey and when these tickets have been sold you will be told that the train is full.  This is often not the case.  If you want to buy a ticket from Luxor to Cairo or Cairo to Luxor and are told that there are no seats available then ask for a ticket to or from Aswan, because it is likely that there are still some of these left.  It is the same train making the same journey and it will stop at Luxor, but the ticket will come from a different allocation.  The ticket will cost of little more but the amount is insignificant.  There are no actual return tickets but it is possible to buy a ticket for your return journey when you buy the outgoing one.

If all the first class tickets have gone then buy a second class one for an air-conditioned carriage.  The only drawback is that the seats are slightly smaller and the toilets have a tendency to be upsetting for the faint hearted, but you can always walk back to the first class toilets if necessary.  Remember to take toilet paper with you on your journey because there will be none is the cubicle.

The journey between Luxor and Cairo is very long.  It takes about ten hours and is known to sometimes take more than twelve, so you will need to have food and drink with you.  There are meals available on the train but they usually only consist of a sandwich and a bun so it pays to bring something with you even is it is only packets of crisps and biscuits.  Hot tea and coffee is available throughout the journey and costs very little.

Luxor - Aswan

Travelling to Aswan and stations in between such as Edfu and Kom Ombo, is a good way of visiting the historical sites without having to travel with the convoy.  The journey to Aswan takes about three hours and is interesting as you can see from the train window how the style of architecture changes and becomes more Nubian as you move south.  You can go down there on the morning train and return on the evening one.  It is easy to arrange taxis from the stations to where you want to go.

Train times can be found in the tables above.  Tickets for the highlighted trains have to be bought on board.  The cost for the express trains is 30 LE (£3) or first class and 20 LE (£2) for second class seats.

Luxor - Abydos

When you travel by road with the convoy to see the temple at Abydos, your time there is severely limited so travelling up there by train becomes an attractive alternative.  The station you must aim for is El Balyana.  Not all trains stop at this station so please check before getting on the train.  The return journey is easier because all the trains travelling south stop at Luxor.  El Balyana is about 10 kms from Abydos and it is easy to arrange a taxi for the journey to the temple but you will have to have a police escort.

For further information about trains, have a look at the following website:-

http://www.seat61.com/Egypt.htm

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