ALEXANDRIA, Egypt Jan 29 - As the blue-and-white tram carriages rattle into a large square in the heart of Alexandria, doors creak open to a crush of passengers, many of whom can recite every stop by heart. 

But the clatter of single and double-deck trams along this century-and-a-half-old line – a source of civic pride and transport alike for tens of thousands of daily commuters in Egypt's second city – is soon to be stopped.