Sikka Press
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Reach the editorial office in Tanta directly.

A real person — usually Ahmed El-Sharif, who handles editorial direction — reads every message that comes through this page. Most enquiries are answered inside one Egyptian working day. The form is the fastest route; the postal address, phone and direct email are listed underneath.

How to reach us

Four channels, listed by how quickly we reply.

Email and the contact form have the same reply window. Phone is answered during office hours by Marc Delacroix on the standing rotation. Postal mail is opened on Sundays.

  • Email. [email protected] — replied to inside one working day, in English, Arabic or French.
  • Phone. +20 40 3318 627 — Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–16:00 Cairo time (UTC+2). Closed Friday and Saturday.
  • Post. Sikka Press L.L.C., 27 Sharia al-Nahas Pasha, Tanta 31511, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Mail opened on Sundays.
  • In person. Office visits by appointment; the building is a working office, no public reception. Email first.

Send a message

Tell us what you need. If your question matches one of the topics below, the message is routed straight to the responsible editor.

Before you write

Four short answers that save a round of email.

A significant share of the enquiries we receive fall under one of these four topics. If yours does, the short answer below may already cover it.

Will you book the train ticket for me?
No, we do not handle bookings at any tier. The Cairo-Aswan sleeper file and the Cairo-Alexandria express file explain the booking procedure for the Ramses Station ticket office and for the online ENR platform respectively; the Library tier subscriber-resource section adds detailed walkthroughs. We do not earn from any booking made through any platform.
Can you arrange access to the ENR planning office archive?
We do not arrange access — the ENR planning-office librarian does that. We can tell you the current contact, the standard application format, and the recent reply window; subscribers at the Library and Field tiers receive that information automatically. Ahmed El-Sharif's familiarity with the office helps but does not give us privileged access.
Can I reuse text or images from the public files?
Short factual reuse with citation is fine. Wholesale reuse of a file, or any use of photographs taken by the editors (including the arrival-board photographs), requires a written licence from the desk. Educational use under a stated programme licence is granted at no charge; commercial reuse is quoted case by case.
Do you accept guest contributions?
Yes, by invitation. The two-person contributor bench rotates every two years, and new contributors are usually identified after a published academic piece on Egyptian railway history catches an editor's eye. Unsolicited pitches are read but seldom commissioned.
Where the office sits

27 Sharia al-Nahas Pasha is 6 minutes' walk from the Tanta station platform.

Sharia al-Nahas Pasha is a residential and small-business street running east from the Tanta central station. The office is a 1970s mixed-use building, second floor; the ground floor is a small bookshop. There is no public reception. Visitors arrive by appointment and call the office line on arrival.

From Cairo by train: 1 hour 10 minutes on the express service, 1 hour 35 minutes on the stopping pattern. From Alexandria: 1 hour 20 minutes on the express, 1 hour 50 on the stopper. From Cairo by road: approximately 2 hours via the Cairo-Alexandria desert road and the Tanta exit. The Tanta train station is the most convenient arrival route for any visitor; we strongly recommend the train option for a desk visit, which makes the experience symbolically appropriate.

For visitors combining the desk visit with a Tanta junction walking tour, the platform tour is integrated into the visit by arrangement (we have a standing relationship with the Tanta stationmaster's office). The Tanta junction file lists the heritage features of the 1880s station building; the desk visit + station tour is a comfortable half-day for any rail-enthusiast subscriber. Subscribers visiting in person typically combine both.