Sometimes sensory input other than through the 10.1" screen and the headphones is necessary.
I had a great day of sensory input yesterday riding the big old Egyptian buses and the metro and mooching around the ancient market streets full of traditional spices, oils, fruits and modern Chinese cheapo rubbish! All the mosque azzans going of at slightly different times! Cacophony! Such contrasts!
I bussed and metroed up to the city from my home and met my friends at Orabi metro. We walked over to Turgoman to check some bus details, then along to a koshari and pasta joint for a fine repast. Decisions made, we returned to Turgoman for yours truly to purchase a ticket for a night bus for my next cross-Egypt journey (for my first post-revolution 'adventure'!) before repairing to Ramses for train details and ticket purchasing for my friends' onward journeys.
After that, we taxied over to Khan El Khalili and partook of liquid refreshment of the chai variety at an qwha where one of my friends was known to the proprietor and sadly found out that a trip to Tanta to meet a Sufi master was to be held on Friday but she was leaving Cairo on Thursday. My friends went for a visit to Al Husseiny mosque but I didn't accompany them as I have been before and let's just say didn't feel I needed to repeat the experience. It was right on prayer time so one of my friends stayed for that.
We then took a very long walk back through the Tentmakers' area, back through to Attaba where my friends were staying - checked the net to see if there was any music at Makan that night, but there wasn't. Off to Talaat Harb and the touristy but nice Falfelas for tameya, omlette, and other things I can't remember the name of.
Back down the Talaat Harb to Tahrir where I descended to the metro and continued my homeward -journey.
We saw some people gathered on the central roundabout at Tahrir but nothing untoward appeared to be happening. If we hadn't known about the tragic incidents of Sunday, as three foreigner-women, we wouldn't have 'guessed'. We didn't pick up any bad atmospheres at all. One man who had given us directions at one point asked us if we felt safe in Cairo, and we did.
If you are in Cairo, just play a bit safe, keep away from any obvious demonstrations or random large gatherings of people. We didn't go into the Khan El Khalili itself, but there were tourists around including one coach load of people who looked as if they were all about 90 years old and none of them looked alarmed about anything (such as can be detected through a bus-window anyway!)
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Cairo Metro - a few updates
I haven't posted for a while as I was away for a month and then since I got back, have been busy working on a project (which I hope to reveal soon!)
Anyway, yesterday I was out and about on the metro and thought I should highlight a few changes which have happened over the past 3-4 months for those of you who may not have used the metro for a while.
Women's Cars (carriages)
First thing to remind everyone is that for around 2 years now, the women's cars have been the two in the middle of the train, not the front one. Some guide books and internet sites which have not been amended give the outdated information. Also, as a reminder, women can travel in ANY car. Men are not supposed to ever go in the ladies' car labelled in red, but can use the ladies' car labelled in green in the evenings. Sometimes men accidentally get on them, and upon realising their error, look all embarrassed until they can get off and move down to the mixed cars. I have witnessed police 'raids' a couple of times where they turf all the men out of the red-labelled ladies' car.
Since I returned from my trip, signs have been appearing on platforms showing the position of the ladies' cars more prominently. Some stations have had them before, but written in Arabic and not obvious. Recently, quite a few stations have now got clear blue signs saying 'Ladies' on them - this is not indicating the location of toilets, but where you should stand for the Ladies' cars.
Getting on and off
Generally speaking, getting on and off the train is a bit of a scrum, especially in rush hour or at the most popular stations (Mubarak and Sadat - the two interchange stations). However, for the past 3-4 months, posters have been going up in metro stations indicating that you should get ON to the train using the middle two sets of doors on each carriage and OFF the train using the end two sets of doors on each carriage.
So far, carriages on the Shubra/Giza line have been labelled accordingly with very clear signs, both inside and outside the carriages indicating whether you should be using that door to get on and off. I first noticed these about 3 months ago, and I was amazed to note that where the carriages are labelled accordingly most people actual FOLLOW this! Of course, occasionally if the carriage is very busy and there is no time to push down to the exit doors, people will still get off in the middle, and also if you are rushing for the train on at the ends. But, all in all, people are making an effort. So far, all the labelling appears to be on the Shubra/Giza line only. I haven't yet seen any El Marg/Helwan trains labelled up (though the posters are at stations for both lines so this will clearly be brought in eventually).
Travelling in the heat
Most of the trains I have travelled on - both lines - are air conditioned (or blowing cool air into the carriages through vents). However, one day last week I was on an old Helwan metro and was amused to discover a very Egyptian solution to a problem which has baffled London Underground engineers for years - how to cool the carriages in hot weather ....
Yes, that is a fan stuck up there. There were a number of them located around the carriage supplying a nice cool breeze.
So actually, using the metro in the hot weather is not as bad as it might be.
Cairo Metro
Metro stations can be found above ground by spotting the big red M on a blue background signs.
There are two lines (with a third under construction). Shubra-Giza and El Marg - Helwan. There are just two interchange stations at present, Mubarak - which is right under Ramses Main Train Station, and Sadat - which is the station at Tahrir - for Mogamma, Egyptian Museum, the AUC Downtown campus, and a number of other important places.
One thing to notice is that the names of stations given in many of the tourist maps and guides are NOT CORRECT. Whether this is because stations may have been renamed at some point in the past 6-7 years or what, I don't know. Also, new stations at the ends appear occasionally, for example, on the El Marg line, there's a new station appeared north of El Marg which isn't on the maps - it's called something like New El Marg.
Station names are all given in English letters as well as in Arabic so don't worry about that!
The stations are surprisingly clean. Trains are frequent and I haven't personally experienced a breakdown, though apparently there was one 2 years ago which made everyone 20 minutes late one day and was the subject of much comment and threats never to travel by metro again! (One 20 minute delay in how many moons? 20 minute delays were the daily norm on the jolly old Victoria LIne back when I were a working lass in London not so long ago!)
Time from El Giza to Sadat is around 15 minutes and El Giza to Mubarak, around 20 minutes. During the day, from El Giza up to Sadat and down to El Maadi is maybe 30-40 minutes.
The fare is 1LE for a single journey anywhere on the network - from one end to the other - crossing lines, or from one station to the next. If you are going to be doing a lot of travel - eg study or work, then season tickets are available, though I think you have to be making 10 journeys a week for it to work out as worth it.
To buy a ticket, go down into the metro station and you will see ticket booths. You may be lucky and there may be no queue. Otherwise, you will have to push and shove your way to the front and deposit 1LE per ticket under the glass hatch and grab a ticket back again. If you are new to this, I suggest you try to pay the exact fare and not have to wait for change as people will just be pushing over you. Do NOT try and be polite and stand in a queue, otherwise you will be waiting for ever. Not a time to be shy.
To get access to the platforms, you have to push your ticket into a machine - like the ones on London Underground and on Paris Metro (I think - haven't travelled there for many years) - and it pops up on the other side - don't forget to take it and keep it! - and you can push through the turnstile bar. To get back out of the station, you have to reenter your ticket - and this time the machine will keep it - so make sure you keep hold of your ticket while travelling!
At all the stations I have been to, there are attendants around to help you on the rare occasions tickets get stuck in the system or if the turnstile bar doesn't open for you. I've seen a few people jumping over the turnstiles, but very few compared to what I used to see all the time in London.
They don't have Oyster cards yet though ;)
I was very surprised when I asked the question on a forum about 3 years ago how few of the foreigners on that forum had ridden the metro, which is quite a pleasure most of the time. One of my friends did get spat at by a hawker on the metro when she didn't buy anything from him (he was walking through the ladies' car) but that is a pretty rare event.
Cairo Metro official link
Anyway, yesterday I was out and about on the metro and thought I should highlight a few changes which have happened over the past 3-4 months for those of you who may not have used the metro for a while.
Women's Cars (carriages)
First thing to remind everyone is that for around 2 years now, the women's cars have been the two in the middle of the train, not the front one. Some guide books and internet sites which have not been amended give the outdated information. Also, as a reminder, women can travel in ANY car. Men are not supposed to ever go in the ladies' car labelled in red, but can use the ladies' car labelled in green in the evenings. Sometimes men accidentally get on them, and upon realising their error, look all embarrassed until they can get off and move down to the mixed cars. I have witnessed police 'raids' a couple of times where they turf all the men out of the red-labelled ladies' car.
Since I returned from my trip, signs have been appearing on platforms showing the position of the ladies' cars more prominently. Some stations have had them before, but written in Arabic and not obvious. Recently, quite a few stations have now got clear blue signs saying 'Ladies' on them - this is not indicating the location of toilets, but where you should stand for the Ladies' cars.
Getting on and off
Generally speaking, getting on and off the train is a bit of a scrum, especially in rush hour or at the most popular stations (Mubarak and Sadat - the two interchange stations). However, for the past 3-4 months, posters have been going up in metro stations indicating that you should get ON to the train using the middle two sets of doors on each carriage and OFF the train using the end two sets of doors on each carriage.
So far, carriages on the Shubra/Giza line have been labelled accordingly with very clear signs, both inside and outside the carriages indicating whether you should be using that door to get on and off. I first noticed these about 3 months ago, and I was amazed to note that where the carriages are labelled accordingly most people actual FOLLOW this! Of course, occasionally if the carriage is very busy and there is no time to push down to the exit doors, people will still get off in the middle, and also if you are rushing for the train on at the ends. But, all in all, people are making an effort. So far, all the labelling appears to be on the Shubra/Giza line only. I haven't yet seen any El Marg/Helwan trains labelled up (though the posters are at stations for both lines so this will clearly be brought in eventually).
Travelling in the heat
Most of the trains I have travelled on - both lines - are air conditioned (or blowing cool air into the carriages through vents). However, one day last week I was on an old Helwan metro and was amused to discover a very Egyptian solution to a problem which has baffled London Underground engineers for years - how to cool the carriages in hot weather ....
Yes, that is a fan stuck up there. There were a number of them located around the carriage supplying a nice cool breeze.
So actually, using the metro in the hot weather is not as bad as it might be.
Cairo Metro
Metro stations can be found above ground by spotting the big red M on a blue background signs.
There are two lines (with a third under construction). Shubra-Giza and El Marg - Helwan. There are just two interchange stations at present, Mubarak - which is right under Ramses Main Train Station, and Sadat - which is the station at Tahrir - for Mogamma, Egyptian Museum, the AUC Downtown campus, and a number of other important places.
One thing to notice is that the names of stations given in many of the tourist maps and guides are NOT CORRECT. Whether this is because stations may have been renamed at some point in the past 6-7 years or what, I don't know. Also, new stations at the ends appear occasionally, for example, on the El Marg line, there's a new station appeared north of El Marg which isn't on the maps - it's called something like New El Marg.
Station names are all given in English letters as well as in Arabic so don't worry about that!
The stations are surprisingly clean. Trains are frequent and I haven't personally experienced a breakdown, though apparently there was one 2 years ago which made everyone 20 minutes late one day and was the subject of much comment and threats never to travel by metro again! (One 20 minute delay in how many moons? 20 minute delays were the daily norm on the jolly old Victoria LIne back when I were a working lass in London not so long ago!)
Time from El Giza to Sadat is around 15 minutes and El Giza to Mubarak, around 20 minutes. During the day, from El Giza up to Sadat and down to El Maadi is maybe 30-40 minutes.
The fare is 1LE for a single journey anywhere on the network - from one end to the other - crossing lines, or from one station to the next. If you are going to be doing a lot of travel - eg study or work, then season tickets are available, though I think you have to be making 10 journeys a week for it to work out as worth it.
To buy a ticket, go down into the metro station and you will see ticket booths. You may be lucky and there may be no queue. Otherwise, you will have to push and shove your way to the front and deposit 1LE per ticket under the glass hatch and grab a ticket back again. If you are new to this, I suggest you try to pay the exact fare and not have to wait for change as people will just be pushing over you. Do NOT try and be polite and stand in a queue, otherwise you will be waiting for ever. Not a time to be shy.
To get access to the platforms, you have to push your ticket into a machine - like the ones on London Underground and on Paris Metro (I think - haven't travelled there for many years) - and it pops up on the other side - don't forget to take it and keep it! - and you can push through the turnstile bar. To get back out of the station, you have to reenter your ticket - and this time the machine will keep it - so make sure you keep hold of your ticket while travelling!
At all the stations I have been to, there are attendants around to help you on the rare occasions tickets get stuck in the system or if the turnstile bar doesn't open for you. I've seen a few people jumping over the turnstiles, but very few compared to what I used to see all the time in London.
They don't have Oyster cards yet though ;)
I was very surprised when I asked the question on a forum about 3 years ago how few of the foreigners on that forum had ridden the metro, which is quite a pleasure most of the time. One of my friends did get spat at by a hawker on the metro when she didn't buy anything from him (he was walking through the ladies' car) but that is a pretty rare event.
Cairo Metro official link
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Travelling round Cairo on Public Transport - Ramses Station area
STOP - PRESS (3rd November 2011) - The building works at Ramses Train Station are still ongoing, but you can see the improvements. A sit-down cafe WITH WC (toilet, loo) has reopened on the long-distance platform where you catch trains to Luxor. There's a fixed price - I think it's 25pst but I forgot to take a lot of notice!
The pedestrian walkway has completely vanished! I hope they rebuild it as it's by far the quickest way of navigating around that area!
STOP - PRESS (29th March 2011) - Ramses Train Station is currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding work and so the surrounding area is a little chaotic. The station is in use, but allow extra time to get into the station and find your platforms (and buying tickets if necessary!). There appear to be NO WCs on the station at present, and also no sit-down cafes (though refreshments are available on the platform where trains depart for Luxor/Aswan) The pedestrian walkway is also partially dismantled.
At last - my first post in this series - prompted by a gathering we are having in Heliopolis on Friday.
If you are travelling around Cairo on public transport - then the centre of your universe will be the Ramses Station area. Many microbuses from all over Cairo come to this area so you can interchange here, and the Mubarak Metro station which serves both the existing underground metro lines also has entrances here. You can also find the entrance to the TRAM SYSTEM! (known as the Heliopolis Overground Metro or Metro Masr El Geddidah), so its a pretty good place to get familiar with.
There is also a main bus station not far away - but I will deal with that in a later post (when I've figured it out :D )
Here is a schematic approximate diagram of the area (it is not accurate but should enable you to orientate yourself above ground!).
The main Ramses Station has a w.c. for 25pst as indicated! Its not wonderful but anywhere is a palace in a time of need :D. There are also various refreshment facilities, tourist information office etc within the station environment.
Both the two metro lines pass through Mubarak metro station and it has many exits. If you want to arrange to meet people then either in Ramses Station or outside the Fatha Mosque (which has a big paved pedestrian area out front) are good.
The roads around Ramses Station are very busy and also there are barrier fences stretching along them for what seems like miles so unless you are fit and can climb over them, you will have a lot of walking to do unless you negotiate the underground passages (which can be confusing as they branch off and off - the one to Ramses Station is labelled 'Egyptian Railways' and the one to FatHa Mosque is labelled.. FatHa mosque!)
If you come above ground - then you will see a pedestrian walkway as roughly indicated on my diagram with the thick black line. Use it!
The entrance to the tram station is not clearly marked - once you know there's one there, its obvious. Otherwise you might easily walk past without noticing it! You pay for your ticket on the train - ask for where you want - I'm going to Roxy Heliopolis on Friday and I know there's a stop there because I've been before. You also need to know that the stops are not particularly well marked so ask everyone to tell you when to get off! Also check the tram is going where you want (I have yet to find out all its destinations!) and check it goes there.
Westerners don't usually use the tram so people might look at you a bit curiously! Its somewhat rickety but at 25pst who cares! (I think there may be some destinations that are 50pst but I'm not sure).
The pedestrian walkway has completely vanished! I hope they rebuild it as it's by far the quickest way of navigating around that area!
STOP - PRESS (29th March 2011) - Ramses Train Station is currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding work and so the surrounding area is a little chaotic. The station is in use, but allow extra time to get into the station and find your platforms (and buying tickets if necessary!). There appear to be NO WCs on the station at present, and also no sit-down cafes (though refreshments are available on the platform where trains depart for Luxor/Aswan) The pedestrian walkway is also partially dismantled.
At last - my first post in this series - prompted by a gathering we are having in Heliopolis on Friday.
If you are travelling around Cairo on public transport - then the centre of your universe will be the Ramses Station area. Many microbuses from all over Cairo come to this area so you can interchange here, and the Mubarak Metro station which serves both the existing underground metro lines also has entrances here. You can also find the entrance to the TRAM SYSTEM! (known as the Heliopolis Overground Metro or Metro Masr El Geddidah), so its a pretty good place to get familiar with.
There is also a main bus station not far away - but I will deal with that in a later post (when I've figured it out :D )
Here is a schematic approximate diagram of the area (it is not accurate but should enable you to orientate yourself above ground!).
The main Ramses Station has a w.c. for 25pst as indicated! Its not wonderful but anywhere is a palace in a time of need :D. There are also various refreshment facilities, tourist information office etc within the station environment.
Both the two metro lines pass through Mubarak metro station and it has many exits. If you want to arrange to meet people then either in Ramses Station or outside the Fatha Mosque (which has a big paved pedestrian area out front) are good.
The roads around Ramses Station are very busy and also there are barrier fences stretching along them for what seems like miles so unless you are fit and can climb over them, you will have a lot of walking to do unless you negotiate the underground passages (which can be confusing as they branch off and off - the one to Ramses Station is labelled 'Egyptian Railways' and the one to FatHa Mosque is labelled.. FatHa mosque!)
If you come above ground - then you will see a pedestrian walkway as roughly indicated on my diagram with the thick black line. Use it!
The entrance to the tram station is not clearly marked - once you know there's one there, its obvious. Otherwise you might easily walk past without noticing it! You pay for your ticket on the train - ask for where you want - I'm going to Roxy Heliopolis on Friday and I know there's a stop there because I've been before. You also need to know that the stops are not particularly well marked so ask everyone to tell you when to get off! Also check the tram is going where you want (I have yet to find out all its destinations!) and check it goes there.
Westerners don't usually use the tram so people might look at you a bit curiously! Its somewhat rickety but at 25pst who cares! (I think there may be some destinations that are 50pst but I'm not sure).
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