Not Again, Not Another Train Crash!

Would you believe that there was ANOTHER passenger train crash in Egypt today? This couldn’t have come at a worse time, as some of you might already know there was a train crash only 2 weeks ago which killed 58 people. You could say the heat is on but when I think about it I come to a simple conclusion...What's the big deal? Seriously, I know it seems sad and tragic and sometimes it's as if it happens too often, after a while you have to assume something is wrong with Egypt, even the Minister of Transportation thinks so but I disagree and I'll tell you why. The problem isn't with Egypt the problem are trains in general. In the United States there are literally *THOUSANDS of accidents per year, many of them involving hazardous materials. The cause of the accidents are generally negligence and faulty equipment which not surprisingly are the same causes for the recent Egyptian train crashes. For Egyptians like me who are often cynical about Egypt and its problems, its easy to observe and say, "of course, it’s Egypt" after which we make some joke about the train operator spilling tea on his lap or smoking a hookah while driving.

*In order to view the PDF of American train accidents go down to 3.04