Egypt State Information Service

Last September, Egypt celebrated the 150th a universary of the 209-km-long Cairo-Alexandria railway line; the second worldwide and first in the Middle East, African and Arab regions. The line was implemented on two phases: the first in 1851 and the second in 1856.The present railway net extends to about 9,400 km in length and carries about one billion passengers a year.

Egypt: First in Africa and Second Worldwide to Use Trains

British-French competition
Railways were introduced into Egypt in the tumults of the international political competition between the two major world colonial powers at that time; France and Britain during the 19th Century to gain control over Egypt.

On the one hand, France was trying hard to obtain the Suez Canal digging concession, persistently persuading Egypt…s rulers since Muhammad Ali era to recognize the importance of this project.
On the other hand, Britain was struggling to inhibit the project and could actually score a momentary success; convincing Muhammad Ali that the project would isolate Egypt from Islamic world in Asia.

In point of fact, Britain was apprehensive of the Canal project because it would give France the chance to have access to India. The British tried to persuade Muhammad Ali to accept an alternative project; namely a railway line between Alexandria and Suez. The proposed line would make it easy for Britain to deliver mail more rapidly between Britain and India across Egypt.

Eventually, Muhammad Ali rejected the proposal of digging the canal and for sometime accepted but later turned down the second project. It is interesting however to note that the first train in Egypt was operated during the reign of Muhammad Ali rather than that of Said Pasha as commonly known.

Early Beginnings
In 1830 the British successfully completed their premiere experiment with railways by starting the Liverpool-Manchester line. The construction company commissioned its supervision engineer for that line, Thomas Gallaway who became Muhammad Ali's engineer, to persuade him to build a railway_line between Cairo and Suez Port instead of the then existing and risky land route.

The proposed line was highly important for Egyptians especially for pilgrims to the Holy Land (Jerusalem, Makkah and Madina). Gallaway convinced Muhammad Ali and travelled to England in November 1834 to purchase the project requirements. In the meantime, Muhammad Ali changed his mind, as he was preoccupied with the construction of the Barrages (al-Qanater al-Khayria). Moreover, he was not sure that the railway line would yield rewarding returns. According to one historian, Muhammad Ali could make use of the imported tracks in building a railway line from al-Moqattam quarries up to the Nile banks to carry stones necessary to build the Barrages in 1834.

In addition to another line for Alexandria suburbs In 1845, Muhammad Ali built another line to carry export commodities and grains from al Mahmoudia to shipping quays at Alexandria port However, Gallaway's attempts to intiate the proposed Cairo-Suez and Cairo-Alexandria railway lines had never ceased. Even when Muhmmad Ali declined under the excuse of lack of resources, Gallaway asked for British financial assistance for the project.

However, the British were not enthusiastic, as they felt expected returns did not warrant such assistance. By the end of Muhammad…s Ali era, they tried once more to convince him to establish the line. They even sought the good office of the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul but Muhammad Ali refused. After Muhammad Ali's death and accession of Abbas in 1849, British hopes were revived. Making use of the political circumstances, they kept pressing on. Since Abbas Pasha was out of favour at the ottoman court, the British supported him.

Construction
In September 1851, constructing of the railway line was started, under the supervision of British engineer Robert Stevenson, son of railway inventor. However,_construction works were undertaken by Egyptian engineers, soldiers and sailors. According to the project contract Abas Pasha had to pay LE 56,000 on installments. However, before the line was opened, Abas Pasha was assassinated on July 14, 1854 and Muhammad Said took over as the ruler of Egypt. He still honoured his predecessor's agreement.

When Abas also was assassinated only 50% of the distance was accomplished. Work was proceeding very slowly because Bruce, then British Counsel-General in Egypt was not enthusiastic about the Cairo-Alexandria line. He thought that Britain's expected returns were limited and it was, therefore necessary to divert attention to the proposed Cairo-Suez line due to reasons earlier explained.

Bruce and Stevenson could hardly convince Abbas to agree to Cairo-Suez line before the latter was assassinated. His successor was under obligation to implement it.

Cairo-Alexandria Line
This railway line was completed in 1856, reducing the journey from 42 hours to only seven hours (now ranging from 2 to 2.5 hours). In 1858, the Cairo-Suez line was completed. However it did not yield much profit and its role further declined after opening the Suez Canal in 1869. Therefore, it was lifted in 1878 and re-built during King Fouad's reign in 1934.

Railway Revival
During the reign of Khedive Ismail railways witnessed great boom. Railway and telegraph services were well-organized and more branches were built in various parts of the country. At the end of Said's era, Railway net covered 245 miles all in lower Egypt. Under Khediv Ismail the net grew to 1085 miles at (2112km) at an annual increase of 83 miles.

In the year 1870, Egypt had more rail lines than in Belgium (458km), Denmark (1876km) and Portugal (787km). Egypt had a railway coverage per each million population of 422 against 239km in Italy, 335 km in Austria, 320km in Spain and 197 km in Portugal. Cairo's main railway station (Mahat Misr) is one of the Prominent landmarks of the city. Covering 25,000m2, with a built-up of about 13,000m2, the station is designed to a high-level Arab Islamic style, of exemplar architectural symmetry.

Currently, the Supreme Council for Antiquities is considering to recognize the station as an monumental building.

Egypt: First in Africa an second in the world to use trains
Officially, Egypt is listed as the third country in the world following England and India to use trains as ameans of passanger transport. However, considering that India was then a British colony, Egypt is practically the second worldwide and the first in Africa and Islamic world. Railway service introduced substantial urban changes in the towns and communities covered. The Cairo-Alexandria and Cairo-Suez lines had rivived both cities, turning them into international transit areas for trade between Europe and eastern countries. Both cities continued to enjoy this privilage until Suez Canal was opened in 1869. Many present large cities, once mere small villages were turned into the ones we know today thanks to the introduction of railways. This had led to the rise of industries and factories there.

Train of the Future
Commercial trains remained in use in Egypt upto mid-20th Century. Starting 1959, diesel-powered locomotives were increasingly in use. Since then, the railway net has been expanding far and wide covering almost all parts of the country, and further extending to neighbouring countries. At present, the Egyptian authorities are considering to turn toward electric trains. A number of electric train projects will be soon tendered on BOT-basis to Arab and foreign investors. On top of these is a super-speed electric train project (300km/hr) to link Alexandria and Aswan.

Railway Museum
Completed in October 1932, this museum was opened on the occasion of the international railway conference in January 1933. The museum contains about 700 models, documents, maps and statistical data showing evolution of transportation and railways. It also contains technical and historical researches and studies of means of transportation in modern and earlier times.

The museum comprises many technical sections: Exhibits show means of transport since the dawn of history. There is a model demonstrating how ancient Egyptians transported a 60-ton-stutu in Greco-Roman era while others illustrate simple transport depending on human, animal power.

Under the railway section, there is large collection of models showing evolution of locomotives in Egypt and the world. One of them is the first locomotive operated in the world in 1783, the second for the first locomotive operated in Egypt in 1854. The third is a life-size split model of a locomotive showing all internal parts.

In other section, there is a set of old and modern manual as well as electric and automated traffic signals. Under the station bridge section, there are models and photographs of old and modern stations in addition to various kinds of swinging and permanent railway bridges with construction details and evolution information.
The museum contains a library comprising a large number of journals, historical, technical books and statistic data on transport and railways in Egypt and abroad.