– “It’s running twenty minutes late.”
– “When did the last tramcar go?”
– “This is a café tramcar. I will have to wait for the next one because this costs five pounds (US 60 cents).”
– “I use it to avoid traffic jams in Abu Qir Street and the Corniche.”
Amid the deteriorating conditions of Alexandria’s facilities, a number of the city’s old tramcars have been converted into luxurious tourist cafés. But not everyone can afford them and overcrowding still persists.
– “It’s running twenty minutes late.”
– “When did the last tramcar go?”
– “This is a café tramcar. I will have to wait for the next one because this costs five pounds (US 60 cents).”
– “I use it to avoid traffic jams in Abu Qir Street and the Corniche.”
Amid the deteriorating conditions of Alexandria’s facilities, a number of the city’s old tramcars have been converted into luxurious tourist cafés. But not everyone can afford them and overcrowding still persists.
These are common complaints one might hear amongst passengers in Alexandria’s trams, which travel through a network all around the governorate of over five million people.
First launched in 1860, tramcars in Alexandria are the oldest means of transportation and the least expensive. Given the increased population density in the city, trams have become the most popular means of transport, especially during rush hour. With the beginning of the new millennium, some one-deck trams were converted into double-deckers as an attempt to meet increased demands.
Prior to the January 25 revolution, the fare cost .25 pounds (US .30) then strikes and complaints after the price rose to L.E. 0.5 (US 63 cents). When Hany Messiry became the governor of Alexandria six months ago, he converted the top decks of double-deckers into tourist cafés equipped with LCD screens. The fare in one of these café trams costs five pounds and one pound on the lower deck. The governor was removed a month ago following his failure to cope with the torrential rainfall that hit the city.
The fare on one-deck trams costs 0.5 pounds, and there are also Madina Café trams with WiFi service at a fare of five pounds.
Luxury service
“Frankly speaking, I use it because it is more comfortable and it helps me avoid traffic jams,” says a café tram passenger. “I do not care about luxury and entertainment. I hope there will be more of these trams.”
The upper deck of café tramcars are virtually empty, while the lower deck teems with passengers to the extent that many of them have only one foot on the car’s sideboard while the other one is dangling in the air. “We have to get on lest we are late for school,” said a group of students hanging at the tramcar door.
“The interval between one tramcar and another is quite long, which increases the numbers of passengers waiting at tram stops,” says student Fatima Muhammad. “I take one-deck trams because I cannot afford to pay five pounds.”
“Passengers like café trams,” says one conductor. “Some now hire them for wedding parties.”
Safety issues
The rate of accidents increases through the course of the academic year because students hang onto the doors of trams and trains due to the crowding inside, putting them at risk of falling and injury.
Dr. Tarek Khalifa, Director of El-Miry Hospital, the largest hospital in Alexandria, says there are no figures about accidents because the hospital does not receive all cases. Most of the admitted cases, says Khalifa, are amputation cases.
Hussein Hamdan, an inspector at Raml Station and head of Alexandria’s Standing Worker Congress, says the General Passenger Authority (GPA) has five double-deckers, two of which have been converted into cafés, over and above City Café tramcars. The long time intervals between one tram and the other is due to missing traffic organization at crowded stations.
Hamdan maintains that there are no maintenance works. “No new cars have been brought because the Japanese manufacturers no longer produce them or their spare parts,” says Hamdan.
“Passengers are responsible for the consequences of hanging on tramcar doors. GPA regulations do not forbid passengers from getting on overcrowded tramcars. GPA head Major General Khaled Elewa says tramcars will be locally manufactured within three years, so passengers will have to keep waiting.”
