Trains traveling through Upper Egypt returned to their normal schedules on Friday after demonstrators blocked railroad tracks the day before to protest the lack of gas cylinders in their village.
Citizens of Balyana village had complained all week of an extended shortage of gas cylinders and jump in black market prices to LE50 a cylinder.
Hundreds of Balyana residents gathered on nearby railroad tracks at 9 pm on Thursday night, blocking traffic and setting fire to tires and branches of nearby trees, said Sohag Governor Major General Abdel Aziz al-Nahhas.
The residents ended their protest after the government provided 4000 cylinders to the village and promised to provide another 2000 cylinders later on, Nahhas said.
The protest went on for six hours, disrupting service for eight trains, Nahhas added.
Since the outbreak of the 25 January revolution, village residents around Egypt have used blocking railway traffic as a tactic to force authorities to meet their demands.
