Ramses Railway Station ( ar, محطة رمسيس, Maḥaṭṭat Ramsīs), also called Misr Station ( ar, محطة مصر, Maḥaṭṭat Miṣr), is the main railway station of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The name is derived from the Ancient Egyptian

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

Ramses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...

, whose

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

was erected by Nasser on the square there in 1955.

History

The original railway station was built as the terminal of the first rail link from

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

to Cairo in 1856. The current building was erected in 1892 and upgraded in 1955. As of January 2001 it was undergoing a major modernisation. In early 2011, following the Egyptian Uprising, Ramses station was fully upgraded and air conditioned with new marble flooring across the station and the addition of escalators. Some critics believe that the modernisations were too modern and destroyed much of the building's original style.

Huda Sha'arawi Huda Sha'arawi or Hoda Sha'rawi ( ar, هدى شعراوي, ; 23 June 1879 – 12 December 1947) was a pioneering Egyptian feminist leader, suffragette, nationalist, and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union. Early life and marriage Huda Sh ...

, the Egyptian feminist, famously removed her veil here in 1923. The classic film ''

Cairo Station ''Cairo Station'', also called ''The Iron Gate'' ( ar, باب الحديد ''Bāb al-Ḥadīd''), is a 1958 Egyptian drama film directed by Youssef Chahine. It was entered for competition in the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. The film ...

'' (1958) was made at Ramses Station.

Structure

Outside of the station used to be the statue of Ramses II that was relocated to the area of

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

on 25 August 2006, in preparation for its eventual installation in the

Grand Egyptian Museum The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM; ''al-Matḥaf al-Maṣriyy al-Kabīr''), also known as the Giza Museum, is an archaeological museum under construction in Giza, Egypt. It will house artifacts of ancient Egypt, including the complete Tutankhamun ...

. It was eventually placed there in 2018. The famous sculpture of

Mahmoud Mokhtar Mahmoud Mukhtar ( ar, محمود مختار) (May 10, 1891 – March 28, 1934) was an Egyptian sculptor. He attended the College of Fine Arts in Cairo upon its opening in 1908 by Prince Yusuf Kamal, and was part of the original "Pioneers" of the ...

, Nahdat Misr (Egypt's Awakening), was originally installed outside the station in 1928, but was removed to its current location near Cairo University in the 1950s. Facilities in the station include a left luggage office, a post office, ATMs, a pharmacy and a tourist information office.

Train services

Ramses Station is served by the vast majority of Egyptian National Railways' intercity passenger services.

Connecting services

The railway station has also a connection to Cairo Metro Lines 1 and 2 via the nearby "Al-Shohadaa/Martyrs" Station; Cairo Trams, city buses, microbuses, and Cairo

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

s are also available.

Incidents

On 27 February 2019 a train hit a buffer stop at the station. According to Egypt's Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek, one train driver had left his train to fight with another train driver; thereafter, an unmanned train struck a barrier. The resulting explosion and fire killed at least 25 people and wounded at least 47 people. Some victims' bodies were burned beyond recognition. Egypt's Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat resigned shortly after the incident.

Gallery

File:Cairo Railway station.jpg,

Station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, p ...

File:Cairo Railways2.JPG, Platforms File:Cairo Train Station.jpg, Platforms File:The Main Door-Ramses Station.JPG, Main station's door

References

External links

Transport in Cairo Buildings and structures in Cairo Railway stations opened in 1856 Buildings and structures completed in 1892 Railway stations in Egypt {{Egypt-railstation-stub