1833–1877 (1803–59) was the engineer of Egypt's first railway In 1833,
Muhammad Ali Pasha considered building a railway between
Suez and
Cairo to improve transit between Europe and India. Muhammad Ali had proceeded to buy the rail when the project was abandoned due to pressure by the French who had an interest in building a canal instead. Muhammad Ali died in 1848, and in 1851 his successor
Abbas I contracted
Robert Stephenson to build Egypt's first
standard gauge railway. The first section, between
Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast and
Kafr el-Zayyat on the
Rosetta branch of the Nile was opened in 1854. This was the first railway in the
Ottoman Empire as well as
Africa and the
Middle East. In the same year Abbas died and was succeeded by
Sa'id Pasha, in whose reign the section between Kafr el-Zayyat and
Cairo was completed in 1856 followed by an extension from Cairo to
Suez in 1858. However, on 15 May 1858 a special train conveying Sa'id's
heir presumptive Ahmad Rifaat Pasha fell off the float into the river and the prince drowned. A short branch to
Faiyum was added in 1868. A Council of Administration with Egyptian, British and French members was appointed in 1877 to put the railway's affairs in order. They published its first annual report in 1879, Trevithick found a heterogeneous fleet of up to 246
steam locomotives of many different designs from very different builders in England, Scotland, France and the USA. to modernize and more fully develop Egypt's existing irrigated agriculture, export potential, and ability to repay debts to European creditors. In the north in 1891, a link line was opened between Damanhur and Desouk. but destroyed in the
Six-Day War in 1967. A new double swing bridge was completed in 2001 and is the largest swing bridge in the world. Israel also captured rolling stock including a six-wheel coach dating from 1893 and a 30-ton
steam crane built in 1950, both of which Israel Railways then appropriated into its breakdown fleet. Before being forced to withdraw from Sinai in March 1957, Israel systematically destroyed infrastructure including the railway. By 1963 the railway in Sinai was reconnected to the rest of Egypt but remained disconnected from Israel. In the
1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured more Egyptian railway equipment including one
EMD G8, four
EMD G12 and three
EMD G16 diesel locomotives all of which were appropriated into Israel Railways stock. After 1967 Israel again destroyed the railway across occupied Sinai and this time used the materials in the construction of the
Bar Lev Line of fortifications along the Suez Canal. After long service on Israel Railways, the 30-ton crane, 1893 Belgian 6-wheel coach and one of the EMD G16 diesels are all preserved in the
Israel Railway Museum in Haifa. The museum opened in January 1933 to mark the city's hosting of the International Railway Congress. •
0-6-0 no. 986 (originally 189, then 142), built by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1861 •
4-4-2 no. 194 (originally 678) built by the North British Locomotive Company in 1905 ==Operations==