Stamps of Egypt: Railway Congress (1933)

British engineers who built the world’s first railways in their own country also introduced them to others.One of these was Egypt, whose first railway was engineered by Robert Stephenson.

But the first Egyptian line was unlike the others. It was built not so much for the benefit of the local population as for the hardy travellers and empire builders of the mid-19th century who had to endure the discomforts of the ‘overland route’ across Egypt on their way to India and the Far East.

Moreover it had two distinct “lives”, the first of which was surprisingly short.

On the other side of Egypt, from Europe to Alexandria and from Suez eastwards, the famous P & O Line pioneered the steamship services with great success. However, they found they were being blamed for the shortcomings of the overland route, over which they had little control.

So the shipppinng company was more than pleased, when in 2850 the Egyptian Government inited Stephenson to survry a route for a railway. Work began in the following year, and in 1852 the first locomotive, built by Stephenson, started running experimentally.

But the all-important route across the desert from Cairo to Suez was not completed until 1858. And only eleven years later the Suez Canal was opened. As the steamers started to run direct from Europe to India through the canal, the railway passengers disappeared.

In those days few people travelled purely for pleasure; but by the 1930s the tourist trade meant big business, and Egypt was keen to receive her share. In 1936 the line reopened, so that visitors could see the desert from the comfort of a modern train.

The story of Egypt’s first railway is recalled by the illustration above.

It was issued for the International Railway Congress held in Cairo in 1933.