Ahmed Fadl-Khartoum

For the second time Atbara train - the cradle of the Sudanese revolution - Saturday afternoon on the rebels of Khartoum loaded with hopes of the Sudanese revolution, coinciding with the arrival of the final signing of the documents of the transitional period, paving the way for a civilian state.

The fondness of the Sudanese trains is as old as the train in Sudan, but what is remarkable in the Sudanese revolution is the fondness of the rebels of the Atbara train, which likes to receive whenever it comes to the capital Khartoum.

The train had given the revolution a momentum when it arrived on a similar trip to the sit-in in front of the army general command on April 23.

The city of Atbara in the state of the Nile River, the cradle of the Sudanese revolution, where it sparked protests on December 19, when the students of the industrial school in the city protest against the lack of bread and boiling, which overthrew the regime of Omar al-Bashir.

Reception Stations
The train arrived at the main reception square at Sheroni Square in central Khartoum at 5 am Sudan time to find the scene packed with crowds of receptors, and had to walk slowly after the processions marched in front of him on the rails.

For the second time, Khaled al-Nus and Mahmoud Hassanein drove the Atbara train to Khartoum, traveling 310 kilometers in 21 hours, on a journey that usually lasts only about four hours, but the full train and the crowds along the route made it the longest journey in its history.

Atbara thuwar train was received in the towns of Al-Damer and Shendi in the Nile River State and at Al-Jili city in the north of Khartoum State, where the sacrifices were slaughtered in honor of the rebels

The Atbara train then inhabited the districts of Kadru, Droshab and the kings of the kings in Khartoum North, before stopping to greet the Shambat rebels, one of the most important icons of the revolution.

Shams Atbara
The cheering of the Atbara crowd returned in Khartoum's Shrouni Square, when the passengers on the train exchanged slogans: "Sharq Sharqat, Atbara Marqat", which came out, as well as chanting slogans demanding retribution for the martyrs of the revolution.

Tears filled everyone's pleasures at Schröni Square as they received the train, before everyone went to Freedom Square, formerly Green Square, to celebrate the main mass.

Mirghani Ahmed al-Nur, 70, said that for the second time, the "train of the revolution" was traveling from his home town of Atbara to Khartoum to support the revolution and the rebels, so that the dream of a civil state would be realized and the era of totalitarianism would forever be realized.

Talal Ajabna (36 years old) told Al Jazeera Net that this train - any train Atbara - always gives him hope that this revolution will not die, and increased "I am not from Atbara nor the Nile, but this train loved me Atbara."

Revolutionary city
Atbara is a highly revolutionary city, where the railway union has formed its identity throughout the past political eras, including the presidency of the railways in Sudan, known as the "city of iron and fire."

The railway union in Atbara resisted military regimes, starting with Lieutenant General Ibrahim Abboud, passing by Field Marshal Jaafar Nimeiri and ending with ousted President Omar al-Bashir.

The Sudanese did not forget the words attributed to Nimeiri when he refused to create a road linking Atbara to Khartoum, fearing the arrival of the people of Atbara to the capital on their bikes to demonstrate against him, where the people knew their fondness for bicycles.

Nearly five decades after Nimeiri spoke, Atbara's people arrived twice to demonstrate in Khartoum but on their train.

Thousands of residents of Atbara, a workers' town, were displaced from their railway jobs after Bashir came to power in June 1989 under the pretext of what was then known as the "public good."

The glories of the train
Sudan has the longest railway network in Africa at 5,978 km, extending north in Halfa, Port Sudan, Atbara and Khartoum, and in the center of Khartoum Wood Madani, Sennar and Damazin, and west to the city of Wau in South Sudan.

But the country's railway sector has deteriorated with the inability to buy new vehicles or fetch parts due to US economic sanctions.

Throughout the country, railway workers in general and Atbara in particular hope to restore the glories of the train that shaped the conscience of the Sudanese, and this was reflected in their culture, singing and poetry.