Heliopolis tramway (1)

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN
Research title:
Evaluating the challenges facing environmental friendly
Transportation systems sustainability .
Case study : Heliopolis District Light rail system
Submitted to: Prof . Dr. Amr Abduallah Abd El Aziz Attia
(Faculty of Engineering-Ain Shams University)
Presented by:
Norhan Mohamed Ali Othman
MSc student –Department of Urban planning and design
Faculty of Engineering –Ain Shams University
in fulfillment of research methodology course
word count : 5,933 word

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Table of Contents
Abstract .........................................................................................................3
1.Introduction...................................................................................................3
2.The importance of tramways as a mode of public transportation ........5
3.Why Heliopolis tramway removal is considered to be a big problem ? ..6
4.Challenges faced Tramways continuity all over the world ....................7
5.Challenges faced Heliopolis Tramway continuity before its gradual
removal ................................................................................................... 11
6. Craiova municipality approach in dealing with the old insufficient tramways......13
7.Findings .......................................................................................15
8.Bibliography .................................................................................16
List of figures
Figure 1 : Modal split on surveyed surface streets within Cairo. .........................................3
Figure 2 : Metro supply in Cairo in comparison to the world's major cities. .........................4
Figure 3 : Metro ridership and demand in Cairo in comparison to the world's major cities. ...5
Figure 4 :The amount of CO2 emitted per passenger and per kilometer for the given modes
of transport..................................................................................................................5
Figure 5 : The three main aspects of the research problem ...............................................6
Figure 6 : The history of Tramways timeline part 1. ..........................................................8
Figure 7 : The history of tramlines part 2. ........................................................................8
Figure 8 : Heliopolis light rail system Network in 2000. ...................................................13
Figure 9 : Heliopolis light rail system Network in 2014. ...................................................13

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Abstract
This paper aims to figure out the main challenges that face the continuity and sustainability
of the tramways on the local and the international level, besides exploring the different ap-
proaches in dealing with these challenges through two case studies, Heliopolis tramway in
Cairo; in which the tramway removal approach was adopted to cope with the increasing
demand on more space for cars. Craiova tramway in Romania; where the preservation and
rehabilitation approach was adopted to support the tramways substantial role in revealing
the vehicles dominance in Craiova city streets.
Through the analyzing these two case studies, it was recognized that the most effective and
economical way in dealing with the old tramways is the rehabilitation and upgrading ap-
proach as it proved to be more cost effective than the removal of the old tramways and re-
construction of new ones also it preserves the historical value of the old trams as some of
them dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century as Heliopolis tramway. "One of
the main lessons learned was that it is better to upgrade old trams rather than replace them
with a new system. Trams are an important alternative to transport by private car, and it can
provide benefits both for travelers and the surrounding environment. The introduction of a
new tram system can be quite expensive; therefore, existing trams should be upgraded in-
stead. Doing so provides economic advantages as well as reducing pollution. These older
trams are also an important part of the city’s history and identity and they should, therefore,
be preserved"(Environment, 2012).
Key words: Tramways, Heliopolis, Craiova, Tramways upgrading, Choppers.
1. Introduction
Traffic congestion became a serious problem in the Greater Cairo Region with a strong im-
pact on the Human beings , environment , Quality of life and economy.in GCR , cars became
the most dominant mode of transportation on both surface streets and the major corridors
as shown in Fig .(1) .
Figure 1 : Modal split on surveyed surface streets within Cairo.
Source : Cairo Traffic Congestion Study Executive Note(The world bank, 2014).

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" One of the main causes of the traffic congestion in GCMA is the inadequate supply of mass
transit , there is only about 1,500 standard buses and 70 km of metro lines in Cairo" (The
world bank, 2014), there is no Bus Rapid Transit system exists , besides the removal of the
tram lines from Heliopolis and Nasr city , For a large megacity like Cairo , the supply of Mass
transits and trams or metros is very limited especially when it is compared to the mega cit-
ies around the world , Although Cairo has the highest demand on metro rider ship compared
to the world's mega cities as shown in Fig.(2),it has the lowest distance of metro lines per
million inhabitant as shown in Fig.(3).
Here comes the importance of maintainting the existing environment friendly transportation
modes and the introduction of additional systems in order to substitute the car dominance
and improve the mobility in the Egyptian streets .
Figure 2 : Metro supply in Cairo in comparison to the world's major cities.
Source : Cairo Traffic Congestion Study Executive Note.

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Figure 3 : Metro ridership and demand in Cairo in comparison to the world's major cities.
Source : Cairo Traffic Congestion Study Executive Note (The world bank, 2014).
2. The importance of tramways as a mode of public transporta-
tion
"Light rail, trams and other rapid transit systems can play a significant part in improving the
attractiveness and quality of public transport in major conurbations. This in turn can pro-
mote local economic growth and reduce carbon through modal shift" (Baker, 2011). Electric
trams are not only environment friendly mean of transportation "Electric trams are a poten-
tially environmentally friendly way of moving large numbers of passengers efficiently, reduc-
ing traffic and local air pollution "(Environment, 2012), but also it is one of the important
components that formulates the city's image and history "Trams are being used increasingly
to put the fun back into inner city life. A score of American cities have discovered just how a
heritage tramway can be an economic boost to the central area, and the trend has spread to
Europe. These heritage tramways run with restored or replica cars, can share tracks with
light rail service, and are often entirely separate from preservation activities by museum
groups, although the two can interrelate quite successfully. Many established tramway sys-
tems run tourist-orientated services, such as the very successful Melbourne City Circle line"
(Taplin, 1998).
" Tram networks have the benefit of being environmentally friendly, allowing for faster trav-
el within the city, and reducing the risk of accidents both for passengers and
pedestrians"(ICLEI, n.d.).The amount of CO2 emitted per passenger and per kilometer by
electric tram systems is less than half the amount emitted by a Taxi as shown in Fig.4.
Figure 4 :The amount of CO2 emitted per passenger and per kilometer
for the given modes of transport.
Source : Author based on the CO2nnect CO2 calculator.

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That's why a strong debate aroused due to the removal of Heliopolis tramway whose launch-
ing dates back to 1906, although it is one of the most environment friendly modes of trans-
portation.
3. Why Heliopolis tramway removal is considered to be a big
problem ?
Heliopolis tramway removal problem has 3 main aspects as shown in Fig. (5):
1. Historical
2. Environmental
3. Economical
Figure 5 : The three main aspects of the research problem ..
Source:Author.
Historically , Heliopolis tram line is the oldest tram line in the continent(Conservapedia, n.d.)
, it's establishment dates back to 1906 , so it should have been maintained and upgraded for
its historical value as it was launched 120 years ago also it was the main pillar for Heliopolis
city establishment .
Environmental wise, it's considered to be one of the sustainable Green transportation
modes that are strongly needed now for a better environment, as it has no serious harmful
impacts on the environment, besides its role in solving the traffic congestion problem which
is mainly caused by car dominance in the GCR.
Economically, the old tramlines maintenance and upgrading cost is low in comparison to the
removal of the old tramline and reconstruction of new tram lines "If Melbourne’s tram net-
work had been removed in the 1950s and 60s like similar systems in Sydney, Brisbane, Ade-

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laide, Perth and many regional centers were, it would be astronomically expensive to build
something like it today from scratch" (Davies, 2014).
Accordingly , this research rises various questions concerning that issue as shown below :
Main Questions:
 What are the challenges which faced the continuity of old tram lines all over the
world?
 Why Heliopolis tramway lines are being removed ?
Secondary Questions:
 How the light rail systems emerged and spread all over the world especially in Heli-
opolis city?
 What are the different approaches in dealing with the old tram lines?
 What are the best practices in dealing with the old tram lines?
In order to achieve the paper objectives which are :
Main objectives:
 To identify the main challenges that faced the continuity of Tram ways all over
the world.
 To figure out the reasons why Heliopolis tram way lines is being removed now.
Secondary objectives:
 To investigate how Trams or Light rail transits emerged.
 To investigate the best approaches in dealing with the city's old tram lines.
Consequently, in order to reach the main challenges faced the continuity of the tramways
internationally and locally especially in Heliopolis ,the history of the tramways will be traced
in the following two sections.
4. Challenges faced Tramways continuity all over the world
Since the evolution of the tramways in the beginning of the nineteenth century , as any new
invention they witnessed ups and downs , Flourishment times and declination times as
shown in the tramways timeline in fig.6 and fig.7 , According to Michael Taplin, the vice-
president and past chairman of the Light Rail Transit Association, the beginning of the idea
of tramways was the usage of horse drawn carts in mines to help in transportation of mate-
rials, but the very first urban tramway was that of New York and Harlem line in 1832, fol-
lowed by the New Orleans line in 1835 that is still in use today. The invention was then
moved from America to Europe; Paris in 1853, Birkenhead in 1860, London in 1861 and Co-
penhagen in 1863. 1870s were a boom time for the construction of horse tramways, but the
limitations of animal power were obvious, and promoters soon turned to investigating me-
chanical traction. Although Steam trams were suitable for suburban and rural use, it was not
appropriate for the urban use. Compressed air, gas and petrol engines were tried, but the

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cable trams were more suitable for usage as in San Francisco, however, they were replaced
soon after for being expensive by electrical trams.
Figure 6 : The history of Tramways timeline part 1.
Source : Author based on (Taplin, 1998).
Figure 7 : The history of tramlines part 2.
Source : Author based on(Taplin, 1998) .
At first, electrical trams ran on battery power, The first electric tram was opened to the pub-
lic by Siemens and Halske in Berlin in 1881, and it ran on 180 volts. However, the overhead
wire with trolley poles were considered more reliable, and the first network was done the by
American, Sprague, in Richmond, Virginia in 1887. By the 1900s, all the horse drawn trams

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were replaced by electrical ones across the US, and soon Europe followed after them. Trams
were really famous as a form of transportation since they were cheap. But in 1920s, the cost
of materials and labour increased and the municipal didn’t want to increase the fares, with
the advancing industry and the production of buses that were extremely cheaper, a crisis
started to show up . In 1929, the depression happened affected the tram systems and they
started to collapse. Soon the buses took over as a cheaper mode of public transportation.
The tramway managers did not give in without a fight. In North America the President's
Congress Committee of streetcar companies commissioned research and production of a
new design of tram which would offer motor car levels of comfort and performance. The
result was the PCC car, which staved off the closure of many systems, and saved others to
form the basis of the tramway revival of the modern era. Some still operate today, and have
become an icon for those interested in heritage tramways as a contribution to urban regen-
eration.
The Second World War hastened the decline of tramways in the UK and France, but provid-
ed the opportunity for tramway reconstruction and reinvestment in Benelux, Germany and
Eastern Europe. In the 1960s, people started believing that private cars will replace public
transportation, except for those who can’t afford buying a car will use buses, and that the
cities could be modified to maintain the increasing capacity of the traffic. Thus, by 1962 all
Britain had abandoned the usage of trams except for the Blackpool system because of its sea
front traffic pattern. However, despite having the same belief in the US, some trams contin-
ued to work, especially in northern America. The usage of trams has stopped worldwide,
except for Northern and Eastern Europe who kept investing in the industry of tramways.
However, West Germany maintained the passenger per staff ratio, which helped in increas-
ing the income from the tramway than that from the buses by introducing a fare system, so
it became the centre of the world's tramway development. The tram was kept away of the
traffic jam by constructing sections below busy streets and intersections. During the 1960's,
the Soviet Union became the world's largest tramway operator, with Leningrad having the
world's largest tramway. The world's most prolific tramcar manufacturer became CKD Tatra
of Prague, Czechoslovakia, as Comecon agreements made this operation the supplier for
most of the systems in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, with production rate reaching
1000 trams per year.
As a result of the over reliance on PCC cars in the Benelux countries and eastern Europe, the
traffic capacity increased, that made a need for the usage of public transportation, thus,
constructing a totally underground tram (Metro). However, it wasn’t possible to be made
outside large cities, so they preserved the usage of the tramway. The massive use of private
cars and ditching public transportation resulted in a dramatic exploded in the traffic; ex-
panding the peak hours. In addition, the construction of roads and highways to maintain the
increasing capacity affected the environment and the quality of living, which made the plan-
ners in Europe look for tramways as a solution and value public transportation.
In Britain in the 1960s, plans were put by the local authorities to make and fund the infra-
structure for an integrated public transportation system, and considering future solutions as
well. A proposal was set by The Tyneside in 1973 to construct a light rail transit system, to

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make a network out of a run-down local rail services that extends about 42 km and connect
them with a new one that extends about 13.5 km up to Newcastle airport that was opened
in 1992, and to make a new extension to Sunderland. This proposal was like an announce-
ment for the light rail transits revolution.
In Mainland Europe, there wasn’t any tram subway digging, as the public transports were
kept visible on surface. Due to the planning strategy which dominated for over 15 years
where the ordinary city street tramways were extended through suburbs. In addition, all the
rolling stock was replaced by high performance tram cars, besides the tram prioritizing traf-
fic which encouraged people to use public transportation. For the past 20 years, many cities
decided to do the same, just as: Graz and Linz in Austria, Amsterdam in Netherlands, Basel
and Zurich in Switzerland. But the other cities decided on having separate ways or under-
ground passages for the tram, but when the cost of the underground digging rose, they were
forced to have restrictions on motor traffic to encourage public transportation usage.
In America, getting back to the tram usage was as easy as Europe. The Americans loved to
use their cars, but they were fully aware of the consequences of traffic jam on their cities
and the environment. In 1970s, they tried to learn from Europe new ways to save their
country, so Boston and San Francisco ordered Boeing-Vertol to replace the PCCs, but it was
an expensive disaster. Edmonton from Canada mixed between the European technology and
the American conditions, where they re-used old railways, connected them with parts of
subway, and imported trams from Germany. It was a huge success, and other cities followed
their example as San Diego, California and Calgary, Canada, creating pedestrian areas in city
centres instead of digging expensive subways. The success of these systems have decreased
pollution, encouraged the usage of public transportation as well as boosting its industry in
many countries worldwide.
In Australia, the railways were built on the British style. They were all closed during 1950s
and 1960s, except for the largest system in Melbourne. Several extensions were built and 2
local lines were converted to light rail and connected to city centre. Zealand trams disap-
peared from city streets by the 1960s, but 1995 saw their return to Christchurch in the form
of a heritage loop through the city centre using museum cars to provide a tourist-orientated
service.
Street tramways have not survived in Japan, since it depended on cars even more than the
USA, but they have been upgrading them over the years. Elsewhere in Asia rail-based urban
public transport is less common. India's only surviving tramway, in Calcutta, is a large net-
work, but years of under-investment have left services in a parlous state. By contrast the
capital of the Philippines, Manila, opened a new segregated light rail line across the city in
1984, and the success of this has encouraged the construction of two more lines using pri-
vate capital.
1997 saw the People's Republic re-integrate the British colony of Hong Kong, where British-
style double-deck trams have run since 1904, and continue to compete successfully with in-
tensive bus operation on the streets of Hong Kong Island. A complete contrast is the light rail
system built since 1988 in the suburban township of Tuen Mun, which is one of the most

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heavily patronised systems in the world, carrying over 112 million passengers/year on the
32-km network.
This is briefly how the tramways emerged and developed in different parts around the globe
, in addition to the different challenges faced it's continuity and how these challenges were
overcomed through upgrading the existing systems or by introducing the light rail transits ,
on the local level , Heliopolis tramway case will be analyized in the following section to have
insights to the challenges that were faced there .
5. Challenges faced Heliopolis Tramway continuity before its
gradual removal
According to Amira el Nashokaty ,The tram way system was neglected from the early 1970s
then was faced with top-down decisions made by the state regarding the role of the private
(imported) car in the future of Egyptian cities. In his memoirs, Anwar Sadat wrote that he
dreamt for every Egyptian to own a car, a house and a television set. Sadat favored the re-
moval of Cairo’s extensive tram network, which he saw as obstacles to the imported Ford
and Chevrolet cars. During his decade of rule, Cairo lost over half of its 120 kilometers of
trams and tracks. Central Cairo was left without its much needed trams, however the trams
in the suburbs of Heliopolis and Helwan were still intact.
The remaining trams are merely functional. There are no maintenance, upgrading, invest-
ments, utilization of advertising space, modernizing of stations, and obviously no expansion
of the remaining network. Streets in Masr el Gedida/Heliopolis clogged with cars while the
middle of the road, where the tracks are, sits empty with no trams passing for over an hour.
(Amira El-Noshokaty, 2002).
According to Effat Badr the head of the Heliopolis metro service ,the tram started working in
1910, linking Heliopolis to the rest of Cairo. Until 1992, it was managed by the Heliopolis
Company, and then it came under the authority of the Cairo Transportation Authority, the
tramway public transport network in the greater Cairo area was designed between 1894 to
1917. On December 1894, Baron Empain – the man who built modern Heliopolis – was
granted the contract to build a transport network for Cairo. In the first phase, eight tram
lines were laid, six running from Al-Attaba Al-Khadra. With the exception of a line running
through Mohamed Ali Street, the old city was excluded from the network.
Today, as Badr pointed out, the tram established in 1900, is older and slower, it's car cannot
exceed 18 km per hour. The metro can, on occasion, move at 28km per hour. Each tram car
has a capacity of 96 passengers while each metro car can carry 144 people.
The tram serviced downtown Cairo, Shubra, Sayeda Zeinab and Helwan. But to ease traffic
congestion, the trams and their overhead conductors have been removed from Shubra and
Sayeda Zeinab. In 1992, in an attempt to modernize the network, trams were introduced on
to the metro lines, bringing the total number of both metro and tram cars in Cairo to 37 and
carrying an estimated 100,000 passengers per day.

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But slowly the system was being dismantled. As part of the Cairo governorate’s urban re-
newal plan, the tramway was pulled out of Al-Galaa Street in 1998 and there are plans to
strip the network from parts of Salah Salem Street.
The original intention was to dismantle and transfer the system to less developed gover-
norates. But last February, when a fatal accident occurred on the Heliopolis line, the press
threw doubt on the quality and efficiency of the metro. Local newspapers cited frequent
power cuts, broken motors and lack of spare parts as the cause of several
accidents(Cairobserver, 2012).
According to Ahmed Al-Dorghamy, environmental consultant and co-founder of the NGO
Green Arm, the time in which the tram was built, quality of life was being taken into account
in urban planning, this type of planning can still be witnessed in the area of Korba, where the
sidewalks are wide, the buildings provide shading over the sidewalks and Heliopolis was
overall pedestrian-friendly area. As a result, cars were not all that necessary and public
transport provided an alternative solution for longer distances.
Some of the trams' tracks in the neighborhood have been taken apart and replaced with
slender pavements to widen the way for the traffic in Al Thawra Street, for example, while
other areas have utilized the abandoned tracks for parking cars or for microbuses to load up
passengers.
After completing the construction of a new bridge and new roads in Heliopolis, the govern-
ment was set to begin working on a complete overhaul of the existing tram system to re-
place it with new tracks and new carts. This was supposed also to include extending the
tramline from Heliopolis all the way to the New Cairo settlements this year.
The project, according to the General Organization for Physical Planning, the national au-
thority for urban planning, was divided into two phases. The first phase, worth $660 million,
was supposed to be completed by 2016. It included the existing tramline development and
extension into New Cairo by 30 kilometers. The second phase was supposed to include the
tramline extension within New Cairo itself, going all the way to the American University in
Cairo through Al Tseen Road and connecting to the Ring Road(Rabie, 2014).
In contrary , the result was different from what was originally planned as shown in fig.8 and
fig .9 as Helipolis tramway lines begin to stop one by one until the whole system stopped
and it's infrastructure is being removed right now .

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Figure 8 : Heliopolis light rail system Network in 2000.
Source : http://web1591.fge1.5hosting.com/lfr-wp1/?m=201303.
Figure 9 : Heliopolis light rail system Network in 2014.
Source : http://web1591.fge1.5hosting.com/lfr-wp1/?m=201303.
This was an example for the dominant approach in dealing with the old tramways in Cairo
and in Heliopolis specifically which has proven a great failure as it wastes the existing infra-
structure by it's removal instead of upgrading, through the next section one of the best prac-
tices in dealing with the old tramways will be discussed .
6. Craiova municipality approach in dealing with the old insuffi-
cient tramways

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200 Kilometers from Bucharest is Craiova, the capital city as well as the cultural and com-
mercial center of the Oltenia region in Romania. The accelerated economic growth, after
Romania's accession to the EU, was accompanied by an increase in motor vehicles, As a re-
sult, the air and noise pollution in the city was getting worse day by day. That is why the
public transport sector there was required to step up its efforts to play an effective role in
meeting the huge demand for mobility in the city. In 2008 Craiova and 3 other European cit-
ies (Brescie, Coimbra and Victoria-Gasteiz) joined CIVITAS Mobility, Development and Energy
Reduction (MODERN) initiative, co-financed by the European Commission. CIVITAS Initiative
aimed to support cities in the implementation of sustainable urban transport strategies that
would improve the welfare of their inhabitants through supporting the cooperation between
scientists and technicians to learn from experiences and best practices throughout Europe.
The Local Council of Craiova Municipality’s main objective was to increase the overall quality
of life of its citizens through the reduction of pollution generated by transport, and the im-
plementation of energy-saving measures through adjusting the public transport services in
order to support the modal shift from private cars as a dominant mode of transportation to
public transport through various approaches ,one of them is the improvement of the energy
efficiency of Craiova's existing tramlines. According to CITIVAS report "Choppers – a sustain-
able solution for energy saving on trams", Craiova’s electric tramway fleet included
36tramways; both the electric system conception and tram infrastructure of Craiova belong
to the1981s. Considering Craiova’s aging tram fleet the Municipality had two main problems:
the high electric power consumption and the discomfort for the passengers. Both of them
have been tackled within CIVITAS, particularly through applying the innovative chopper sys-
tem as 9 of Craiova's tramways were not used due to their high energy consumption, so the
only choice to reuse these tramlines was to decrease the electrical consumption and costs of
these 9 tramways.
Due to the financial crisis of 2008, "Several projects had to pass into a conservation status as
they could not be implemented due to the tight budget. For this reason we tried to find new,
innovative solutions for the old trams belonging to the public transport operator’s (RAT)
fleet" (ICLEI, n.d.). The core of the Choppers system is to decrease energy consumption by
about 40%, Moreover; it lowers exploitation cost and is more comfortable and safe for pas-
sengers. To turn the idea of choppers into a tangible reality, technical conditions and tech-
nologies where introduced to keep a balance between quality and price. In addition, special
software for the choppers was designed to allow for a smooth sailing operation time. The
choppers system is based on the energy conservation process, for example, when the tram
brakes, the kinetic energy in the wheels are transferred into electrical energy to be recov-
ered in the power line. Hence saving energy and money because it is returned and con-
sumed by other trams in the same line. To make the software more interactive, every device
used for controlling energy conservation and consumption is designed in relation to the
driver's behavior. This is done so that the distributed stations of trams can have a better as-
sessment of how the management of the energy in the tram system is being handled.
The creative aspects of the measure are:
Use of technology/ITS: the software used is independent of any equipment and process the
data from the entire system of the trams.

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 Online Management: allowing online visualization of electrical systems and the
management of four defined electric measures – line current, engine current, line
voltage, and filter voltage.
 Increasing Safety: The chopper system allows the trams to brake safely which means
that the start and the stop of the tram are safer and comfortable.
The results of these implementations of the chopper system are a decrease in energy con-
sumption by 40% of energy and an increase in quality and safety in the 9 trams with the
choppers system implemented. This gave a rise to the idea of reusing and recycling the old
trams for public transport around Europe, because it gives a great push to the sustainability
of the public transport with 0% pollution and huge capacity for transporting people.
Up-scaling and transferability, The Choppers system has been promoted in the neighboring
countries: Bulgaria, Slovakia, Albania and Macedonia during different events, economic mis-
sions or as part of partnerships between cities. Following these actions, the public transport
company from Pleven, Bulgaria and the Pleven municipality decided to apply this solution to
the trolleys fleet to reduce energy consumption. Public transport companies from Pleven
have already made an assessment of costs and developed a first draft of an implementation
plan.
7. Findings
Through the previous study of The main challenges facing the tramways continuity on the
local and the international level the following reasons for Heliopolis tramway declination
and removal was concluded :
 The growing demand on the private cars usage versus the declination of the tram-
way services which is faced by the removal of the existing tramways to provide
much more space for the private cars .
 The lack of clear executive plan for the government's transportation projects to be
followed up and assessed in addition to the gap between the announced govern-
mental projects and it's implementation ; according to the GOPP, it was supposed
that the first stage of Heliopolis tram rehabilitation and extension to New Cairo by
30 Km will be completed by 2016 , that project didn't start till now .
 The insufficient polical will and the lack of policies that support the public transpor-
tation means role in revealing the private cars dominance .
 Revenue losses due to the low ticket prices .
 The lack of periodic maintainance and services efficiency follow up.
 Inadequete management framework for such a crucial transportation mode .
 The lack of creative ideas to bring investments to ensure the tramway system sus-
tainability " The best strategy for a city with an old tram system is to draft a political
and financial integrated transport roadmap,which bindingly states the long-term
transport policy and traffic management"(UITP, 2004) .
On the other hand,through studying craiova's municipality approach in dealing with the in-
sufficient old tramways these lessons were concluded :

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 "Do not scrap the old trams, upgrade and use them" (ICLEI, n.d.) Public transport by
trams provides a great transport capacity, as well as a hygienic mobility option for
passengers which make it a valuable asset for the city 's prosperity .
 "One of the most important lessons learnt is to not remove the trams, but rather
modernize and use them. Besides the advantages that they represent, the trams al-
so form an integral part of the identity of the city " (ICLEI, n.d.) tram ways is one of
the main components that formulates the city's image and history which is a great
potential for grabbing investments and raising profit for the system's maintainance
and upgrading "In many countries, extensive tramways systems were removed in
the 50s and 60s. Realising their errors two to threedecades later, city planners and
decision makers had to re-introduce light rail at significantly higher costs, never
achieving the high system density, which existed before"(UITP, 2004) .
 " The introduction of a tram transport system is very expensive, therefore the exist-
ing system must be preserved, maintained and upgraded"(ICLEI, n.d.) economically ,
it was shown through the paper that the cost of the system maintenance and up-
grading is dramatically less than the old system removal and reconstruction , it just
needs creative ways for rising fund for the exsting system rehabilitation "Rehabilita-
tion of tram systems permits a gradual offer of better service with much less effort,
money and time than new schemes" (UITP, 2004).
 Synergies creation: "We learned that it is difficult and takes time to create cohesion
in a partnership between politicians, technicians and scientists. However, the syner-
gy among them can create a powerful mechanism, which is able to produce great
changes in the city. By working together, we learned to understand each other, to
accept different opinions and to transform them into benefit for the city " (ICLEI,
n.d.).
Last but not least, it's never too late to rescue the rest of the existing tramways in Heli-
opolis and Egypt before its removal, such a great asset shouldn't be wasted like this,
however it should be upgraded and maintained to meet the needs of the next genera-
tions.
8. Bibliography
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