EGYPT’S LARGEST railway station, Bashteel, was inaugurated on Saturday by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. Located in Giza, construction of the station began in 2020, designed to serve passengers travelling to and from Upper Egypt.
Bashteel Railway Station, situated in northern Giza, is four times bigger than the historic Misr Railway Station (Ramses Station) in central Cairo. The new state-of-the-art facility is expected to ease pressure on Ramses Station which connects the nation’s railways in all four directions, and reduce traffic congestion in Ramses Square, a busy area in the heart of the capital.
The station features Pharaonic architectural design, with a 40-metre-high glass pyramid and four obelisks at its entrance. It includes 12 railway platforms, tractor and carriage workshops, and a storage hub. Additionally, the station will house a garage, commercial mall, four-star hotel, and 28 towers for commercial, administrative, and residential purposes.
Bashteel Station integrates multiple modes of transportation, including the Cairo Metro’s third line, the monorail, and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. It has a daily passenger capacity of 250,000, with 28 ticket windows.
The main building consists of a basement, a garage, a ground floor, and two additional floors, with the first and second floors dedicated to shops and investment spaces. There are four platforms serving Upper Egypt passengers, six lines, including two for Aswan and Alexandria, two manoeuvring lines, and two terminating lines for trains from Upper Egypt.
Equipped with modern facilities, the station features a smart interchange hub, passenger guidance screens, electronic ticket gates, ticket vending machines (TVM), and surveillance cameras. It is air-conditioned, offers Wi-Fi service, and is fitted with an advanced fire and alarm system.
The station is a key part of the government’s plan to enhance railway infrastructure and improve passenger movement between Cairo and Upper Egypt, at a cost of LE2.5 billion.
During the opening ceremony, Al-Sisi also inaugurated, via video-conference, the Fardan-Bir Al-Abd railway line, marking the resumption of train services in Sinai after more than 50 years.
A few days earlier, Minister of Industry and Transport Kamel Al-Wazir attended the launch of a trial operation of the Sinai railway line, taking the inaugural ride from Sheikh Zayed Station to Bir Al-Abd Station.
The 100-kilometre Fardan-Bir Al-Abd line has undergone extensive upgrades, including the renewal of 22 kilometres of tracks and the rehabilitation of an additional 64 kilometres. The restoration also covered 14 kilometres of rails that were stolen during the “period of insecurity” in 2011, Al-Wazir noted.
Additionally, the Ministry of Transport has renovated Bir Al-Abd Station and restored the operations of several other stations, including Qantara East, Galbana, Rummana, and Balouza.
Some LE225 billion has been invested over the past 10 years to improve dilapidated railways, with accidents frequently making headlines.
According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), train accidents in Egypt decreased by 78 per cent in 2023, with 181 incidents recorded compared to 831 in 2022.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 17 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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