Cairo: With smiling and optimistic faces, 900 Sudanese departed the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday aboard a free train bound for war-torn Sudan. Departing Egypt, Sudanese were lining up outside Ramses railway station, the central train station in Cairo, to begin a journey home in a train that takes them to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, where they will take ferries and buses to enter Sudan.
According to Nam News Network, last week, Egypt’s National Railways Authority launched a special train to facilitate the voluntary return of Sudanese in Egypt. The authority’s statement released on Monday highlighted that train No.1940, an air-conditioned third-class service, departed from Cairo Station at 11:00 am local time and will arrive at the High Dam Station in Aswan at 11:40 pm. All Sudanese nationals wishing to return can register via WhatsApp, with a confirmation message taking five days, explained Omaima Abdullah, head of the Voluntary Return Committee for Sudanese in Egypt.
Applicants are required to submit their details to prove their nationality, and the committee will contact them with travel dates and ticket numbers. Abdullah noted that any Sudanese, whether they came to Egypt legally or not, can apply for the journey. On March 26, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council and commander of the SAF, declared that Khartoum is free, which refers to the end of the RSF’s control over the capital.
Mohamed Elwan, a 20-year-old Sudanese student, shared his mixed feelings, stating he loves the moments he experienced in Cairo but has to return home to resume his university education. “I lived here for 18 months in very good relations with the kind Egyptian people. I will miss the vibes and glamour of the most populous Arab city of Cairo,” Elwan expressed while taking farewell photos with some Egyptian people near the station entrance.
Sudanese ambassador in Cairo, Emad el-Din Adawi, who accompanied the returnees, told reporters that after the Sudanese army restored control of Khartoum, it is the moment for stability. He emphasized that the first step for stability is to help the Sudanese people return home to participate in the reconstruction of their country. “The train will print good memories in the minds of the Sudanese riders,” Adawi said. “Today, the second train moved under the umbrella of love between the Egyptian and the Sudanese people.”
The United Nations announced on Friday that over 1.3 million Sudanese people, including one million who were internally displaced and over 300,000 refugees, have returned home. The International Organization for Migration reported a rise in voluntary returns of displaced Sudanese from neighboring countries since January 2025, citing an improved security situation in Khartoum. Egypt accommodates the largest share of Sudanese who escaped the intense conflicts that plunged Sudan into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.