End of line for trams

FUTURE: STREET CARS, LIGHT RAIL TO REPLACE 163-YEAR-OLD NETWORK

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CHANGING TIMES: Egyptians stand at a food stall along the tram tracks in the coastal city of Alexandria. The oldest tram in Africa and the Middle East is set to be replaced. Picture: AFP

(AFP)

Along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the oldest tram in Africa and the Middle East rumbles for a final few weeks before its removal - the latest urban upheaval Alexandrians say is hollowing out their city’s identity.

Government plans to replace the colourful streetcars on one of the city’s routes with a partially elevated light rail line have angered Alexandrians, for whom the 163-year-old track is “heritage, not just a means of transport”, local urban researcher Nahla Saleh told AFP.

Inaugurated in 1863, the tram is one of the world’s oldest, and among only a few to operate double-decker cars.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, it helped the city become a bustling metropolis, home to sizable European diasporas and a distinct cosmopolitan culture.

Now, Egyptians young and old have flocked for farewell rides, before the streetcars come to a halt in April.