When asked why they love black-and-white movies, Egyptians in their fifties and older reply that these old films fill them with nostalgia for the allegedly more unalloyed and simpler life they enjoyed when they were children, before the modern world overpowered them, emotionally and economically. But we've still got something ��" the tram ��" to remind senior citizens of the good old days. The electric vehicle heralded the arrival of "modern technology" in Egypt in 1893, when a Belgian railway company brought trams to the country after signing an agreement with Baron Empain, whose palace in Helopolis in Cairo is today at the centre of a legal wrangle between his grandchildren and the State. Official celebrations were organised in August 1896 to watch the first tram glide gracefully along the streets of Cairo. According to the book Cairo's Tramway by Mohamed Sayyed Kilani and first published in 1968, the first people to jump on the electric vehicle were Hussein Fakhri Pasha, the then Minister of Public Works, and his assistants. Tens of curious, humble Egyptians lined the streets to watch the metal block trundle down the line. The Minister of Public Works was very impressed by his journey and gave the Belgian company the green light to operate more trams. Next, there was a bigger festival in Midan el-Ezbekiya, known today as Midan Attaba in downtown Cairo. The entire square was bedecked with lights and banners; and tables were set out inside big tents to serve food to the top brass ��" royalty, ministers, foreign diplomats, judges, generals and other VIPs. The company's 400 Egyptian staff ensured the guests were happy. It was only in 1908 that the Belgian company decided to relinquish 5 per cent of its profits to the Egyptian Government. The popularity of the trams persuaded the Council of Senators (Egypt's Parliament at the time) to draw up rules and regulations for this unprecedented means of transport, which drunks, troublemakers and the disabled were not allowed to use. According to Cairo's Tramway, the electric vehicle encouraged Egyptian people to leave their homes in the afternoons and evenings in summer and go and visit public gardens and cafés. Middle-class families who didn't have cars were encouraged to escort their children to gardens and other public places. Poets and writers were particularly fond of the trams. The press at the time commented that the tram stations were very popular with courting couples, rather like the Tube stations of today. There were also problems with thieves targeting commuters, while women riding the tram alone complained of being molested.
