Minister of Transport Ibrahim al-Domeiry estimated losses incurred by Egypt's railways authority over the past two weeks at LE250 million.
The Interior Ministry decided to stop trains following the dispersal of sit-ins supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo and Giza in mid-August.
At the first press conference since his appointment, Domeiry added that the safety of train passengers takes priority over financial gains.
"We know that halting train movements is not beneficial for the country and has many negative impacts on the national economy, however, securing the lives of passengers is more important that money," he said.
An estimated 1.5 million passengers travel on 1,300 train journeys in Upper and Lower Egypt.
The ministry will re-launch the railways after nationwide rioting has been controlled to preserve the lives of passengers, he said.
The ministry is currently studying the reduction of headway time, he said, adding that the current capacity of the metro is 2.5 million passengers while five to six million passengers use it on a daily basis.
He also said that it was agreed with the police to secure train and metro stations, and added that he is continuously in touch with the Interior Ministry to discuss the issue.
Edited translation from MENA
