Thursday March 28th, 2024
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King Farouk's Royal Train Returns to Alexandria After Restorations

Dubbed the ‘Fast Royal’, the train was built by Italian company Fiat in 1951, and is one of the earliest to use diesel.

Cairo Scene

The luxurious royal train that once belonged to King Farouk I has recently been restored by the Egyptian Railway Authority, and has been returned to Alexandria, where it now resides at the Montazah Museum.


Dubbed the ‘Fast Royal’, the train was built by Italian company Fiat in 1951, and is one of the earliest to use diesel. Although it was scarcely used while it was in Egypt (what with the Egyptian Revolution occurring just a year later in 1952), King Farouk and Queen Narriman had reportedly travelled from Venice to Milan in it, sort of as an extremely extravagant test drive.


The train was able to take up to 40 passengers across two cars, and was also equipped with over a dozen phone lines spread out across its body, one-sided tinted windows, fluorescent lighting, and a fully decked-out kitchen. And of course it’s not a luxury vehicle if the seats weren’t adjustable, right?