Historically and internationally Egypt was the second country after UK to have a railway. 125 years ago on the 16th of September 1856 Egypt inaugurated the first railway in Africa and in the East . 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 56,000 Pounds (present rate 1$= approx 6 pounds!) 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 bridges in Egypt at Kafr Zayat and Benha before finalizing the huge project in 1856. 

It started at Alexandria to Kafr El Zayat in 1854 then it reached to Cairo in 1856 then to Asyout in 1874 and to Luxor in 1898. 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. It is believed that in year 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 read this important Page "Railways in the Nile Valley" The Egyptian Railways before the inauguration of the Suez Canal was one of the main sources of income. 

The Railways in the 20th Century crossed the country reaching to Palestine. The 1948 war put an end for these railways despite of the recent news that there is a plan to have a railway from Alexandria to Libya. Of course you must bear in mind that in the past there were neither 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 very prestigious company in the past , Egyptian grand parents tell us how the first and second class in the Railways were so clean and fine, just check the Luxurious Salon in the first degree. Also below here is a photo for Royal Salon, already there were specialized Royal railway stations for the King and his family The Royal Vehicles are currently in the railways museum. In 1933 the ESR inaugurated its museum about the history of railways in Egypt beside Cairo Station and was opened in 1933 for the occasion of international railway conference. The museum includes 700 models, documents, maps and statistical data showing evolution of railways beside the Royal Vehicles. 

Despite its importance the ministries of Culture and tourism do give it adequate attention and care. Now the Egyptian State Railways became the Egyptian National Railways. There are -from m time to time- some news that the government is thinking of privatizing the Railways, some people say that the government neglects the railways company so it can lose more and Privatisation will be the last solution. 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,. There were films about therailways and I won't forget the famous "Cairo Station" film of late Youssef Chahien , I should say that before Cairo Station Joe directed a film starring Laila Muard 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 hand is for a 1950s film starring Emad Hamdy and Samia Gamal called "The night train" 

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.