Sinai Railway

Sinai Railway
Ticket from El Qantara to Tel Aviv (1941)
Route length:	202 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend from Cairo Suez Canal El Ferdan Bridge ; Swing bridge: from 1942 from Cairo Suez Canal El Qantara Bridge; Swing bridge: 1916-1919 0.0 / 414.1 El Qantara Tell el Achmar 21.0 / 399.5 Galbana ammunition depot 1941 25.0 / 391.5 Tell el Heir after 1939 27.5 / 381.5 Baluza after 1939 32.5 32.5 km 42.0 / 372.5 Romani to Mahemdiya 46.5 / 361.4 Rabi'a after 1939 60.0 / 349.4 Nagila after 1939 78.0 / 337.4 Bir el Abd 329.7 Salmanah after 1939 90.0 / 321.8 Misfak 311.2 El-Tillul after 1939 117.0 / 300.7 Bir Mazar 291.7 Zebrika after 1939 137.5 / 280.7 Maadan after 1939 144.8 / 269.7 El-Bardawil after 1939 157.0 / 258.7 El Arish 258.6 Wadi al-Arish El-Abtal 166.0 / 247.5 Diqla after 1939 172.4 El-Burj 181.1 Gaber Amir 187.2 / 225.5 Sheik Zowaid after 1939 to Esch-Schu'uth 203.0 / 212.0 Rafah Egypt - Palestine / Gaza Strip Railway line to Haifa via Lydda (km: 0.0)

The Sinai Railway was a railway line connecting Egypt and Palestine along the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula .

course

The route started on the east bank of the Suez Canal , in El Qantara , and then ran near the Mediterranean coast of Sinai until it reached the Mandate Palestine in Rafah . Here it connected to the network of Palestine Railways (PR). The route crossed an almost uninhabited area. With a length of 202 km, it was the only significant settlement to touch only Al-Arish on the way .

history

First World War

During the First World War , the first Ottoman attack on the Suez Canal took place in February 1915 . It was turned away by British troops - but nothing more, despite the supply difficulties on the Ottoman side. Sharp criticism in Great Britain that the retreating Ottoman units were not even properly pursued led to a change in strategy - towards the offensive. A year later, in the spring of 1916, construction of the Sinai Railway as the Sinai Military Railway (SMR) began. It was advanced from Egypt and used the local technical standards, in particular the normal gauge of 1435 mm. A temporary swing bridge over the Suez Canal near El Qantara ( Arabic for "bridge") established the connection to the Egyptian network. The terrain of the Sinai presented no obstacles to the construction of the railway. However, the water supply for the steam locomotives and sand drifts were problematic .

The British Army set great store by ensuring that the advance against the Ottoman troops was only carried out with solid supplies . The line between El Qantara and Rafah was built on two tracks . The construction of the railway therefore proceeded much more slowly than that on the Ottoman side (see: Ottoman military railway in Palestine ). Al-Arish was reached in early 1917, and in April the top of the route was 16 km from Gaza .

Interwar period

The resulting infrastructure was divided after the war: the part in Palestine was sold to Palestine Railways (PR), the part in Egypt , the Sinai Railway, remained the fiscal property of Great Britain and was not transferred to Egypt until 1948. Since the temporary bridge that spanned the Suez Canal during the war had to be removed at the request of the canal administration, the Sinai Railway was separated from the rest of the Egyptian State Railways (ESR) network . This led to the decision to transfer operations to the PR on the entire Sinai Railway, including the section in Egypt. The kilometering of the route introduced by PR counted from Haifa Ost train station.

Between 1920 and 1939, the Sinai Railway was part of a continuous rail link from Europe to Egypt - with the exception of the Bosporus and Suez Canal crossing. For the now low traffic volume (one passenger train / day and freight traffic as required), one track was completely sufficient. The second track, from the time of military operation in World War I, was dismantled in 1923/24.

Second World War

During the Second World War , a swing bridge was again built over the Suez Canal in 1942 , this time at El-Ferdan , which replaced the ferry service at El Qantara. The route south of Gaza was placed under military administration. To increase the capacity, was initially considered to build the second track again, but then the capacity problem with the installation of 22 additional passing places fixed.

→ See also: El Ferdan Bridge

After 1945

The Sinai Railway was fiercely contested in some places during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. During their retreat, the Egyptians dismantled the tracks on the emerging new border north of Gaza. The Sinai Railway was subsequently operated by the Egyptian State Railways (ESR), including the section between Rafah and Gaza, which was formerly part of the PR. In addition, a new kilometer was introduced, which now counted from El-Qantara.

During the Six Day War , Israel gained control over the Sinai Peninsula and thus also over 300 km of Egyptian railway lines, including the Sinai Railway between El-Qantara East and Gaza. About 19 km were missing between the Israeli border and the end point of the Egyptian railroad in Gaza. The gap was closed between June 9 and 20, 1967. On June 20, the first freight train left Al-Arish station in the direction of Lod . Numerous Egyptian railway vehicles that had previously been collected in Al-Arish were lined up in this train. The booty included 8 General Motors diesel locomotives , some passenger cars and 570 freight cars.

In July 1967, the IR assembled a train from two G12 locomotives and a colorful row of freight cars to test the track of the Sinai Railway and further along the Suez Canal to Ash-Shatt . The expedition dragged on because sand had blown the track in places. The flat car, which was pushed in front of the first locomotive as a mine detector, derailed several times. The troops in Sinai were then supplied via the Sinai Railway. But soon the old problems of the Sinai line arose: Sand constantly flooded the line. For this reason, operations between the canal and Al-Arish were suspended and the line was demolished in order to block the material for the fortification of the Bar-Lev line .

After the return of Sinai to Egypt in 1982, the Egyptian State Railways restored the El Ferdan Bridge and the route to Bir el Abd.

business

vehicles

In the beginning, ESR vehicles were used. The locomotives suffered from the primitive maintenance conditions and constantly had to be replaced. 25 older locomotives with a C wheel arrangement, built by Robert Stephenson & Co. in the mid-19th century, were part of the inventory. There were also 20 1'C and 10 B'B from Baldwin (Philadelphia). From Franco-Belge , 8 machines with the C and 4 wheel arrangement with the 1'B wheel arrangement were in service with the SMR. There were also other machines from the Egyptian State Railways. From the first years of operation of the line, especially during the war, the records of the locomotives used are only incomplete. Initially, when the Ottoman troops were still nearby, three armored trains were used to protect the route in Sinai. They were moved by gasoline-powered locomotives from Manning Wardle and positioned in the middle of the trains.

Train protection

On the Sinai line, trains initially received travel commands through flag signals , later entry and exit signals and mechanical train protection were installed.

Operational problems

The route was laid in sand without gravel . This enabled top speeds of 70 km / h for passenger trains and 50 km / h for freight trains.

The lack of water in the crossed area was a major problem. A water treatment plant was built in Al-Arish to rid the water there of lime and salts to the extent that it was suitable for the operation of steam locomotives. In addition, large amounts of water were stored in Mazar, which were filled with tank trucks from El Qantara. From 1943, the trains between Al-Arish and Mazar carried an additional water car, half of which was used up to Mazara and stored there. The other half of the water was used for the return journey between Mazar and Al-Arish.

It was necessary to constantly fight against sand drifts: The sand migrated both over the tracks and under the tracks, which caused considerable operational difficulties. A large number of workers always had to be used for shoveling. The sleepers were of poor quality, their wood untreated, and large numbers of termites fell victim to them. The thresholds that survived this suffered from “natural shrinkage” - wood was rare on the Sinai and in Palestine. Other railway material was also stolen in large quantities. Overall, the Sinai route turned out to be a great burden for PR.

traffic

The passenger train between El Qantara and Haifa ran daily (412 km / 12 h). Three times a week he drove dining and sleeping cars for the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits . In 1921 the connection was supplemented by an El Qantara – Jerusalem sleeping car . Apparently it was not profitable and in 1923 it was only used when required (defined as at least 8 booked passengers). The El Qantara – Haifa sleeping car was offered daily from 1923 onwards. Freight traffic took place on the route as required.

After a swing bridge crossed the Suez Canal again in 1942, through trains immediately ran between Cairo and Haifa.

literature

• Dieckmann: The Sinaibahn. In: Newspaper of the Association of German Railway Administrations, Volume 71, No. 44 (October 29, 1931), pp. 1175–1177.
• Paul Cotterell: The Railways of Palestine and Israel . Tourret Books, Abingdon 1984, ISBN 0-905-87804-3
• Hugh Hughes: Middle East Railways . Continental Railway Circle, Harrow 1981, ISBN 0-9503469-7-7
• Neil Robinson: World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary 7 = North, East ans Central Africa .oO 2009, plate 22. ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5
• Walter Rothschild: Palestine Railways 1945–1948 . Diss. King's College, London 2009 or 2010.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Name given after Robinson; according to Rothschild: "Gilbana".
2. ^ Name given after Robinson; after Rothschild: "Palluzeh".
3. ^ Name given after Robinson; according to Rothschild: "Rabaa".
4. ^ Name given after Robinson; according to Rothschild: "El Khirba".
5. ^ Name given after Robinson; according to Rothschild: "Mazar".
6. ^ Name given after Robinson; after Rothschild: "El Midan".
7. ^ Name given after Robinson; according to Rothschild: "Geradi".
8. ↑ The station was on Egyptian territory, the village of the same name, 2 km north of the station, on mandate territory.
9. ↑ Rothschild, chap. 1, Section 1: (H) c).
10. ↑ Rothschild, chap. 2, section (D) iv).
11. ↑ Rothschild, chap. 2, section (D) iii).