re = /^(\d+)\h+-\h+\1$/m
str = '9993990487 - 9993990487
9993990553 - 9993990553
9993990554 - 9993990559
9993990570 - 9993990570
9993990593 - 9993990596
9993990594 - 9993990594'
subst = '$1'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html