Last days of the Heliopolis Tram (Cairo, 2015) - 3/3
YouTube name: John Levermore.
Language: Arabic.
Date: October 6, 2015.
City: Heliopolis, Cairo (Egypt).
The video shows
Cairo Transport Authority in Heliopolis (CTA)
Closed
Description
The Heliopolis tram network once covered over 30km across the northern suburbs of Cairo. It's suffered from lack of maintenance for decades and in the past few years the network has been drastically cut back.
As of October 2015, only a single 3km stub between the Al Maza depot and Midan Mahkama (Court Square) is active and it's hard to imagine this final line surviving much longer.
A third line on Cairo Metro has expanded into this neighbourhood which is a welcome improvement. But the tram network used to provide a dense network of lines that could have been an ideal feeder system for the metro. There is talk of reviving the tram network, but with most of the lines being ripped up, it's hard to imagine new trams in Cairo.
This clip shows the tram approaching the terminus, next to Al Maza depot. Unfortunately, the tram cannot continue to the depot to reverse, as a car has parked on the final part of the line connecting to the depot. This was taken on 6th October public holiday and the busy Tivoli Dome Food Court, adjacent to the depot, was probably the cause of the congestion.
