CAIRO: Following the devastating crashes that took place this past week on Egypt’s railways and roads, the government suspended two of the major railway officials. The first crash resulted in at least 58 deaths, and was one of the worst transport disasters in the country’s history.
The Daily Star Egypt gauged people’s views at Cairo’s main train station about the railway services in Egypt.
There are many difficulties facing train passengers in Egypt. In my opinion the most important one is the long time between trips on the same line. If I miss a train I will not find another one on the same day. I wish they made more frequent trips for the same destination a day.Ahmad, civil servant
One of the problems is the fast trains. We don t have enough fast trains that stop only once in each governorate. Most of the trains have frequent stops in the same governorate. It wastes a lot of time.Nora, student
The trains are extremely old. If the same trains were abroad they wouldn t use them to transport animals. No ventilation system, illumination is very bad. I think we deserve more from our government.Al Sayed, retired civil servant
Trains are so crowded. Last winter I caught the flu more than once because an infected person was on the train. There are also a lot of quarrels between passengers that sometimes result in injuries. I believe these quarrels are because of the crowded atmosphere we have to bear for a long period of time.Abo Bakr, police officer
Trains are usually late, especially those that come from upper Egypt. This results in stagnations and overcrowded trains. Mona, housewife
I wish we could be treated as human beings. Sometimes there are more than 200 people in the same carriage. I’m not saying that I want to sit during the trip, but I do at least want a space to stand still without being touched by people.Ibrahim, literature student
I don’t want to talk about how crowded it is, because we get used to that, but I will talk about the ticket window. It is not logical to only have one window in the station. I wish we had to go through the crowds only in the train itself, and not also outside while booking the ticket.Sameer, civil servant
Harassments are a very silly thing to face. I can t even differentiate between harassments and the unintended touching because of the crowd. The people in the train move as one group because of the crowd.Hana, student
Because of the crowd we don t have a space for our bags. People use that space for standing and sitting. I hate traveling because of this particular reason. I can t own a bag that looks nice for more than a month, and I can t buy one every month. Having to move around with torn bags makes me feel embarrassed.Aleya, law student
The views expressed in Word on the Street do not necessarily reflect the views of The Daily Star Egypt.
