Transport Database and Photogallery

14 february 2010 - Helwan, Egypt - el Teram, Al Tibeen: I have seen many different tramways, but the one I always remember with most affection was at Helwan, a city just south of Cairo. Built in the early 1980s as a showpiece of modern light rail technology, Helwan was literally run into the ground for years, until the 2011 revolution finally came along and put it out of its misery. When I visited in 2010, the system only seemed to operate because no-one in authority knew how to close it down. This is the southern terminus of the main line, situated at no-where in particular, with the tram crew posing for photographs.
Author: dvigar edytor

14 february 2010 - Helwan, Egypt - el Harery Street: The smell in this area was indescribable, although the goats seemed to like it. Kinki Sharyo tram #6006 is shown on a (very) infrequent journey along the Helwan tramway. I doubt that the shepherdess expected to encounter a tram and always brings her animals out onto the tracks, although at many places in the city there is rotting food, dead dogs and other delights. This scene is typical of the condition of the Helwan tramway in its last days.
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 3

16 february 2010 - Helwan (Egypt). Helwan has a large fleet of these 1980s, single-ended Japanese-built trams, very similar in design to Cairo and Heliopolis tramways. Here the similarity ends, however - Cairo and Heliopolis trams, although well worn, are at least kept in reasonably good condition. Most Helwan trams never leave the depot, I suspect. Despite being part of CTA Cairo, everything at Helwan is in an appalling state of repair - you can see here that, maybe twenty years ago, this was a fine, modern system with raised platforms, passenger shelters and high-speed catenary suspension for the overhead wires. It isn't vandalism that has caused this - just neglect. A decent light rail system left to rot - what a waste!
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 8

17 february 2010 - Helwan (Egypt) - El Harery Street. The Helwan tramway was built in 1981 and looks like it has had no maintenance or repairs since then, so is now slowly dying. Maybe one tram every THREE HOURS runs (usually empty) along the shaky tracks on two lines crossing the city. More pictures soon!
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 35

17 february 2010 - Helwan, Emtedad Atef El Barquqi. There is a vegetable and fruit market on this street, alongside the tracks. As the frequency of the tram is defined by a complex interaction of prayer times, accidents, vehicle condition and - last but not least - the mood of the drivers, the rubbish from the market is thrown straight onto the tracks. On this momentous occasion of a tram passing along the street, some workers got to work shovelling the rubbish from the tracks to let the tram get through. I'd rather not mention the smell... All in all, if you ever wondered what hell for trams looks like - it is in Helwan...
Author: straphan edytor

Comments: 24

17 february 2010 - Helwan, El Sarf El Sehy. As we were the only passengers on board car number 6006, we asked the crew to stop for photos a few times along the way. Here the tram has already left the centre of Helwan and has stopped next to the depot gates, located amongst fields.
Author: straphan edytor

Comments: 3

17 february 2010 - Helwan, terminus El Tabbin. As you can see by the positioning of the vehicle, the tracks in Helwan haven't seen a tampering machine since they were built in 1981. We are standing near the Nile, next to a metallurgical institute - the tram probably used to carry many of its workers. Sadly, I don't know what we did to piss off the crew of the tram, but they left before we had a chance to take pictures of the tram and jump back on board for the return journey. We did the three kilometres back to the depot on foot. Of course with the exception of Dave, who always does his own thing...
Author: straphan edytor

Comments: 2

17 february 2010 - Helwan (EG) – El Teram, Al Tibeen. The southern terminus of the Helwan tram system is here behind a steelworks. When we visited, nothing moved, and the terminus tracks themselves looked totally derelict. A tram does come here occasionally, though – we arrived with this one and I took this picture of the conductor. The tram then suddenly drove off back towards the city, leaving us standing there with a 3km trek to the depot – thanks, guys………
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 3

17 february 2010 - Helwan (EG) – The Agricultural Road, Al Tibeen. A rare section of proper street running in Helwan. The car has just been abandoned on the track, as the driver was obviously not expecting a tram to come along – understandable, as there doesn’t seem to be any timetable and nothing runs for hours at a time! The customary Egyptian drivers’ shouting match is about to commence……….
Author: dvigar edytor

17 february 2010 - Helwan (EG) - Omar ibn Abd el Aziz Street. OK, so you can see only a very small part of the tram in this photo - but it's hard to drive it and take photos at the same time! Note the driver's lunch by the windscreen - a piece of flat bread, which all workmen seem to carry with them - and the taxi abandoned on the other track (which may not have to move for an hour or so, when the next tram comes along!).
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 1

17 february 2010 - Helwan (EG) - El Harery Street. You can see from this photo that this was a showpiece in the 1980s - a fast, well-equipped light railway. Now, after thirty years of total neglect, it just struggles to survive and really can't last much longer.
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 3

17 february 2010 - Helwan (EG) - el Harery Street. MacDonalds Drive-Thru, all-you-can-eat salad bar. Im lovin' it.........
Author: dvigar edytor

Comments: 7

Name		Kinki Sharyo (Kinki Sharyo) /Kinki Sharyo Heliopolis (1967-1989)
VIN
Build Number
Built		1981
Scrapped
Owners
1981		CTA القاهرة (al-Qāhirah)
Vehicle Numbers
Year Of Get	Year Of Remove	Vehicle Number
1981		6006 / CTA القاهرة (al-Qāhirah)
Other Information
Based at Helwan

Kinki Sharyo #6006

Details

Photos

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