Luxor4u

Let's hope all goes well.

Luxury tourist train to operate ahead of Eid between Cairo, Aswan

Al-Masry Al-Youm August 25, 2017 5:08 pm

A luxury tourist train will be launched on the Cairo-Luxor/Aswan line from August 26 to the 29 2017 for the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday, said Deputy Chairman of the Railways Authority and official spokesperson of the Authority, Reda Abu Harga.

Harga said in a statement Friday that the train will be operating for the first time since its comprehensive development, a joint cooperation between the Qader factory, affiliated to the Arab Organization for Industrialization and the Railway Authority workshops.

Chairman of the National Company for Sleeping Wagons and Hotel Services, Mohamed Nasrallah, said that the train will depart from Giza station at 6:15 pm and arrive at Aswan station at 6:30 am. The train also has a VIP Top wagon, he added.

Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

http://www.egyptindependent.com/luxury- ... iro-aswan/

They could do with giving the "new" VIP trains a good clean which seems lacking since introduction.

As the crow flies its about 700k's from Cairo to Aswan. If you add 30% to this distance to take account of rail line design (a very generous estimate) the 12 hour trip currently averages a bit over 75ks per hour for the journey. That speed would even have been regarded as pretty average for long distance rail services in the west 60 years ago.

And they say killing customers is their biggest or only problem.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the French or Germans manage the overnight tourist rail trip in the 80's and 90's and isn't it correct that its now managed by the government. Didn't the Europeans introduce Messerschmidt (?) high tech carriages and locos in this period. Is this hardware still in usage decades later or was it withdrawn when government retook control? Wonder whether the average speed is still what it was several decades ago? I think its part of a Mubarak program where international contracts - including for airports - were cancelled and locals took their place.

If they could do it at say an average of 100k's per hour + (less than 6/7 hours to Luxor) it might make financial and practical sense. You would pay $150+, but save more on the alternative costs of overnight accommodation, taxis at both ends and the airfare as well as being less out of sync with the times spent getting to and from airports and hanging around for the outward flights. There also might be a competitive marketing angle which dwells on private concerns western people have about flying in the middle east.

Effective management of the service should be able to get 110/120 kph averages out of even basic current equipment - assuming of course that the overall rail system is not irrational.

It might even be possible to do this without spending new billions on technology/new rolling stock etc.

For it to work, cleaning up the Ramses station would probably be required. Contracting the rail service out to experts with achievements might not be a bad idea. Re-eaxminining the current daytime legal prohibition on western tourist train travel on this line (not always implemented in individual cases) might also not be a bad idea.

All a bit optimistic but if I was local governor might be worth looking into if Luxor is to have a few (and low cost) options to return to its previous prosperity and not just sit back as the coast and Cairo overwhelm the tourist market.

I suspect the speed/duration issue on the Cairo-Luxor-Aswan is a reflection of the track conditions.

I've noticed the train reaching 100 Km/H plus on the Qena-luxor stretch (the road runs parallel to the line)....but I expect it slows down considerably when approaching major stations.

The Qena market/souk , for example, actually straddles the track....I kid you not!

Whether the track generally is suitable for high speeds is questionable and, with the sleeper train, I suspect speeds over a certain level would render sleep impossible.

A lot of money has been spent modernising Ramses Train station and isn't this new train just what used to be called the Spanish train?

Top VIP deck, low bridges, sounds good to me. All they need now is tourists and wealthy Egyptians to give it a go.