Today in History : The first Egyptian Railway

Historically and internationally we were the second country after the UK to have railways.
Today from 125 years ago, on the 16th of September 1856 Egypt inaugurated the first railway in Africa and in the East

An old Egyptian State Railways poster 

It was during Khedive Abbas I era. The Railway was from Alexandria to Cairo “209 km”. Khedive Abbas I whom we rarely remember signed an agreement with Engineer Robert Stephenson to build the railways for LE 56,000  in 1850.
In 1851, Stephenson had accepted to be Engineer-in-Chief to the Egyptian Railway between Alexandria and Cairo.

In 1855 Stephenson inaugurated the first two moveable bridge in Egypt at Kafr Zayat and Benha “I think this is the famous Bridge of Benha which Dalida sang about “before finalizing the huge project in 1856.

 I should say that this railway was not for the sake of Egypt on the contrary, Khedive Abbas I was not like his uncle or his grandfather. Already Abbas closed the schools and factories his grandfather opened and lowered the number of the Egyptian soldiers in the army, the same army that rocked the East and he fought with.

Abbas, I whose murder is a very classical X-File did it for the British.

Already the British in 1834 proposed the same idea to Mohamed Ali Pasha, they wanted simply to secure the way to India but as usual, Mohamed Ali Pasha who refused the idea of the Suez Canal for fear of foreign dominance refused the idea of railways altogether, the man knew what their plans were.

The first Khedival vehicle 

Here is the design of the first Khedival vehicle from the 1856 train.
It started at Alexandria to Kafr El-Zayat in 1854 then it reached Cairo in 1856 then to Assuit in 1874 and to Luxor in 1898.

Another Egyptian State Railways poster 

The railway from Qena to Aswan was built by a private railway company called Qena Aswan Railway company. Already in 1884, there was a military railway from Aswan to Sudan which used in the military campaigns in Sudan only.

There were several private railways companies in Egypt in the 19th century like the Delta Light Railway Company and the Qena Aswan Railway Company.

I think by 1914 Egyptian State Railway Company owned most of the railways in the country.

To read more about the rich history of Egyptian Railways especially before the revolution, I recommend that you read this important Page “Railways in the Nile Valley”.

Before the inauguration of the Suez Canal, The Egyptian Railways was one of the main sources of income.
The Railways in the 20th Century crossed the country reaching Palestine.

The 1948 war put an end to these railways despite I read the news that there is a plan to have a railway from Alexandria to Libya.

You must bear in mind that in the past there were no highways nor cars like now.
Railways were the main means of transportation used by the Egyptians to get from a city to another. The desert roads were real desert roads and the agricultural roads were dangerous.

The Egyptian State Railways Company was a prestigious company in the past, my Turkish grandfather used to work in it as an inspector but he left it after a fight with a British Person who insulted the Egyptians in his presence.

My grandparents used to tell me how the first and second degrees in the Railways were so clean and fine, just check the Lux Salon in the first degree.

The first degree Lux Salon in Egyptian Railways in the past

Also below here is a photo of the Royal Salon, already there were specialized Royal railway stations for the King and his family, I think there was one beside the Haramlek Palace at Alexandria. The Royal Vehicles are currently as far as I know in the railways' museum.

The Royal  Salon 

I know for sure that some things were stolen from them as part of the infamous Mohamed Ali Royal Jewels affair.

A stamp commemorating
the International congress
of Railways 

In 1933 the ESR inaugurated its museum about the history of railways in Egypt. It is beside Cairo Station and it was opened in 1933 for the occasion of the international railway conference.
The museum includes 700 models, documents, maps and statistical data showing the evolution of railways besides the Royal Vehicles.

It is a very important museum but unfortunately, the ministries of Culture and tourism do not recognize its importance, already there are some people who are interested in Railways and its history and will be interested in seeing our long history in the railways. You can see some of the documents online in the link I posted above.

Now the Egyptian State Railways became the Egyptian National Railways. The Railways company is just like Egypt now, great past but a troublesome present and a fearful future.

The accidents of the trains are happening frequently, the trains are so old with no technical maintenance. The government despite claiming to spend billions on the Railways does not bother to import better and modern trains.

Already the railways of Egypt can be used in tourism, I know there is a touristic train but I will dare and say without seeing it that it is not as it should be.

 In the Old-time the Egyptian State Railway used to promote tourism in Egypt with their trips across the country and their luxury service.

It is enough to see the posters of the Egyptian State Railways and how beautiful they were to understand that the people in that company did not need to have a tourism ministry to understand the golden opportunities they can use.

Spend This Winter in Egypt Vintage Travel poster
by Egyptian State-Railways 

Les Pyramides 
by Egyptian State-Railways 

Another ESR vintage
travel poster 

I do not need to speak about the employees of the Railways especially those who work on trains, last year they had a strike demanding higher salaries.

It is not about the salaries, in my opinion, it is about the work environment, the medical care and the working hours not to mention the corruption in the company itself.

From time to time there is news that the government is thinking of privatising the Railways, some people say that the government neglects the railways' company so it can lose more and Privatisation will be the last solution.

I am against the privatisation of such important means of transportation despite I am not a communist nor a socialist Still I believe it is important that the State owns it, there are many opportunities the railways in Egypt can seize.

Egyptian Railways in popular culture 

The railways in Egypt were some sort of inspiration to Poets and Singers. There are many folk songs about the Railways especially about the Upper Egypt train, 

I think this is because of the long distance between Cairo and Upper Egypt. Also, there is a famous Children lullaby about the train which needs coal to go on, I remember it till now “يا و ابور يا مولع حط الفحم”

There were films about the railways and I won’t forget the famous “Cairo Station” film of late Youssef Chahine, I should say that before Cairo Station Joe directed a film starring Laila Murad called “The lady of the train” not to mention the famous song of Farid Al Atrash in Chahine’s “You are my love” {The Peasant Girl aka El-Falaha}. The poster on your right  hand is for a 1950s film starring Emad Hamdy and Samia Gamal called “The night train”

Updated "15/11/2008": Here is a better photo I found for the first locomotive for the Khedive in Egypt, I could not resist myself for post it here.

The first locomotive in Egypt "EgypteDantan.com"

Updated "6/12/2008": Here is a drawing for the Cairo station in Alexandria that goes back to 1858

Sources :

• Rosa Al Youssef Daily “Today in the past” Column by Mr Shafek Ahmed Ali.
• Robert Stephenson trust.
• Railways in the Nile Valley.
• The official website for the Egyptian National Railways.
• The ENR from Wikipedia.