Despite their smart new uniforms, Egypt's train drivers still face significant problems, reports Mai Samih He is the man you rarely see when you are on the train, but he is also the one to blame first if anything goes wrong. Rafiq Ali, 49, is a train driver who has been working for more than 30 years on the Egyptian Railways, witnessing the highs and lows of the job and still dissatisfied with his life on the railway. "We have no special conditions, and we still work according to the 1947 legislation, meaning that our salaries are the same as any other government employee despite the importance of our job and the hazards we face every day," Ali says. Drivers' salaries are determined by experience and a special miles allowance, and little attention is given to the other dangers they could be liable to. "We don't even have an allowance for the dangers involved in working in a high voltage environment, unlike drivers on the metro who were previously drivers on the Egyptian Railways." Ali is standing in his cabin, wearing the dark suit that is his work uniform. Another driver nearby expresses his anger at the recent raise given to metro drivers by Minister of Transport Galal Mustafa. "It's not fair that a metro driver gets a month and a half raise while we get nothing," he says. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Hani Hegab, chairman of the Egyptian Railways, rejects such complaints, saying that there is no discrimination between a metro driver and a train driver. "In general, the salaries and conditions of metro and train drivers are the same," he said. Train drivers and railway personnel are not covered by health insurance, but there is a special hospital for Egyptian Railways personnel, even if this is not without its problems. "We have a card which covers LE200 of medications, but what we need is an improvement in medical services," Ali comments. According to Hegab, improvements to terms and conditions of service are being made. "We are currently renovating the railway hospital in order to turn it into a five-star service," he says. "It will also be open to the public at reasonable rates, helping to provide an additional income stream to help the hospital improve its services." Railway drivers have a busy schedule, according to Hegab. "Our work is different to administrative jobs, where you just work eight hours a day, or to the limited hours of metro drivers," Ali says. "Everything depends on the destination of the train. I have to come at least two hours in advance to check the engine, and I drive around 13 times per month." If the trip is relatively near, like Cairo to Alexandria, only one driver drives the train. Ali, the father of two children, also has to work long hours away from his family. Things have if anything only got worse since the revolution, Ali says. "Before 25 January 2011, if there were problems they were mostly mechanical ones. But now a journey that is supposed to take eight hours, like Cairo to Assiut, can take 24 hours or more as protesters are blocking the train tracks in many governorates." This decreases the number of journeys and causes financial losses to Egypt's railways. "As a result of the 470 protests that have taken place blocking the railways, the Egyptian Railways have lost some 100 million Egyptian pounds," Hegab says. For his part, Ali calls on the protesters to find somewhere else to protest. "I beg my fellow Egyptian citizens to stop protesting on the railway tracks, as this way no one gains," he says. Ali also works in a technical institute that teaches drivers how to deal with the engines and the advanced technology in the cabins. No courses have been laid on to deal with the current crisis, he says. According to Hegab, another training centre will open soon. "The Wardan Training Institute will be inaugurated next April to help improve the performance of all railway employees in all fields," he says. According to Ali, the main difference between a metro driver and a train driver is that the first works in a closed tunnel, and the second works on the open tracks, where there are many unexpected dangers. "I face the danger of accidents at the barriers going across the tracks, for example, whereas a metro driver does not," he points out. "Most of the current barriers are made of steel chains, not iron gates, and this can increase the probability of accidents." "It is the safety of the drivers and the passengers that should come first, not how a station looks from the outside," says Ali's driver companion. Speaking to the Weekly, Hegab said that many of the current problems on the Egyptian Railways should be resolved by the end of the year. "We are renovating carriages, workshops, and traffic signals, like those in Banha and Alexandria. Some 245 new barriers are being built, using advanced technology," he said. Further renovations are also planned later this year as part of a second phase. These will include new accommodation for barrier guards as part of a 10-station-per-year renovation plan.
