Dina Ezzat promenades through Heliopolis "Must be off board for a little while, I'm afraid," the conductor announced. "The train requires some urgent maintenance. Thank you for your patience. In case of a hurry please board a microbus from the corner of the road." This was Ismailia Square, Heliopolis -- and dozens of school children, workers, street vendors and civil employees began to push their way through the doors of the singularly dilapidated vehicle they had boarded. It belonged to the second generation of streetcar network -- known, until the evolution of the all-powerful underground, as the metro; the first generation, it is worth noting, is the cable- operated tramway, several lines of which still run in Alexandria. "On getting off they usually just find an alternative mode of transportation," the conductor was to explain some 15 minutes later, when the train was back on the rails. "Metro problems tend to happen again and again, and people have learned not to depend on it so much -- not on regular basis, anyway. The trains are busy in the morning, but mostly with those who don't have an appointment to keep." Prior to setting off, he turned to the few passengers who had bothered to wait, "Back on board, let's go now. If you've lost your ticket, I'm afraid you have to buy a new one. If you own a pass you must show it again..." A trademark image of Heliopolis, the metro: in its very early years, it served the indispensable function of connecting the residents of that East Cairo suburb with the main railway station at the centre of Cairo. Ibrahim El-Laqqani-Kobri Al-Laymoun (for which read Ramses Square) was the first line operated, and for one mallim, in 1910, residents of Heliopolis could reach the heart of the capital. It was in 1951, after Heliopolis spread out beyond Kurba, that the line was extended and supplemented with several more lines, one of which reached Corniche Al-Nil. And with the establishment of Nasr City beyond the edge of Heliopolis in the late 1960s, the metro went there too. But only a decade later, the car boom confined the network within the boundaries of Heliopolis, with few exceptions; a few years later it was to expand again -- to Ramses, then Abdel-Moneim Riyad Square -- then back again to Ramses. According to engineer Effat Badr, head of the Heliopolis Metro Department of the Public Transport Agency, the 90- year-old network has endured; today metro rails extend to a distance of 90km. "There are now four main lines and two auxiliary lines," Badr explained: respectively Al-Nozha-Ramses, Al-Merghani-Ramses; Abdel-Aziz Fahmi-Ramses and Madinat Nasr-Ramses; as well as Abdel-Aziz Fahmi-Madinat Nasr and Madinat Nasr-Al-Matariya. "The most active lines convey travellers from one end of Heliopolis to the other, or else to the Ramses Square train station." And notwithstanding the frequent delays, some one million people, he added, depend on the metro on a daily basis. Amal Ahmed would seem to be a frequent enough passenger: "Well, yes. I like to go on the metro, especially in the morning when there is a Ladies carriage. It has nice chairs, and it seems to stroll gently down the rails -- away from the madding traffic. So when I get to sit down it's an enjoyable ride from Abdel-Aziz Fahmi Street, where I live, to Koleyat Al-Banat Station, outside my university. It is only 25 piastres, too -- cheaper than the minibus or the 'air- conditioned bus'." But Amal does not use the metro every day: "Sometimes I've waited for an hour and still there is no sign of the metro. Then I have to look for an alternative. This is why I don't have a yearly pass." Which passes nonetheless, along with the affordable ticket price, attract many school and university students. The pace is attractive -- a kind of promenade, given the urban views on offer -- and spacious cars allow people to be "comfortably squeezed" -- an advantage not to be had on board the bus, the more common mode of economy transport in Cairo. All compensates for the long wait and the slow journey, the latter frequently interrupted by a breakdown. The downside of the metro experience is something Badr is willing to acknowledge, at least: "I'm very familiar with the problems, I've heard so many complaints. People want to ride the metro but it's not run frequently enough." If not for the daily inconveniences, in fact, Badr went on to say, over five million people would use the metro every day: "Our problem is primarily financial..." Only 49 trains "attempt to cover six lines -- they fail. I know the metro is always late, I know it breaks down, but when you remember that we haven't bought a train since the late 1980s, and when you think that 94 per cent of these trains have been running for over 18 hours a day over the last 30 years, you begin to see that it is actually an achievement that the metro is still running at all." That both rails and electric lines are faulty she also acknowledged, together with disappointing levels of cleanliness, not to mention conductor and driver images. "It is all a matter of resources," she declaimed. "We're trying very hard, but everything has a limit." Conductors and drivers of the main four lines, many of whom have been on the job for over three decades, likewise acknowledge the decline. An environmentally friendly means of transportation that was once favoured by the middle class -- a good portion of Heliopolis residents -- has long since shed its charm, they say. A Merghani-Ramses line conductor elaborated, "In the past you could see students of both language and public schools on the metro. Now this is no longer the case. Only those who cannot afford taxis board the metro." Besides, fewer civil servants and schoolteachers are depending on the metro, once their favourite means of transportation. Hard up students, workers and the occasional passenger aside, conductors say, the metro conveys more and more senior citizens on their way to and from Heliopolis and Nasr City clubs and banks, many of which are close to the stations. "It is particularly busy on the second week of the month," a Nasr City line conductor testified, "when it is time for pensioners to collect their money. You can see them holding on tight to their money, careful not to get robbed." But for many the metro remains an inexpensive joy ride. "We are not really going anywhere," Ahmed and his fiancée Siham, shop assistants waiting for the train at one of the Merghani line stops, explained. "We will just take the metro to Ramses, take a stroll around town and take the metro back." Unlike other men and women there, Ahmed and Siham were neither checking their watches nor turning impatiently to the end of the street, where the rails curve towards the station. Residents of Ain Shams, on the outskirts of Heliopolis, Ahmed and Siham only use the metro in this way; they do not depend on it for moving around the suburb. Heliopolis Metro Department estimates suggest that a budget of LE200 million is required immediately for importing 10 new trains (the vehicles are not locally produced) to bolster up the service; half of this amount, according to feasibility studies, would be needed to renovate the present 49 trains. No resources have been allocated to either project. Since its early years, and up until 1992, the Heliopolis Metro was run by the Heliopolis Company. A profit- making institution by virtue of its urban development projects, the company could afford an average of 10 new trains every five years. Since it was incorporated into the financially stressed Public Transport Authority, however, the metro has witnessed few if any upkeep programmes. In view of the deteriorating service, declining revenues and the Public Transport Authority's many pressing priorities, moreover, it is unlikely to be earmarked any time soon. As it is, Badr said, the Heliopolis Metro Department is working hard enough to ensure the availability of funds for routine maintenance. In fact extra money only came in when a mobile phone company decided to advertise on the trains: "I asked them to paint the trains for me while they were installing the advertisements." With state policy intent on keeping public transport in the hands of the government, privatisation is not an option, but it is hoped that business tycoons who have shown interest in giving Heliopolis a new lease of life might wish to invest in renovating the metro. "I think that if the metro is renovated and expanded east to Al-Qahira Al-Gadida, that will be an obvious urban investment," Badr went on. "After all, this was the theory of the founder of Heliopolis: for the metro to provide a decent mode of transport, encouraging people to move somewhere new..."
