Online, no it isn't

You get all excited when a Goggle alert comes

Egypt Ministry of Transportation launches online ticket booking service

then you read the content

22 August 2008

The Ministry of Transport, Egypt has launched a online ticket booking service in collaboration with the Ministry of State for Administrative Development. The IT Department will maintain the service at the Egyptian National Railways Authority and the National Commercial Bank.

Passengers can book their tickets from the www.egyptrail.gov.eg. Using the service requires a user account, which can be created on the website, and a Visa or MasterCard. The credit card owner can either be the main passenger or a relative of the main passenger and the card used must be issued from Egypt. However, the service does not offer the discount privileges that are available at ticket booths. Each user can purchase five tickets per train and a total of 10 tickets per day in no more than three transactions per card on the same day. After the seat is reserved, the page redirects users to the website of the National Commercial Bank to fill out credit card information and personal information, namely an e-mail address and telephone number where passengers can be reached. Canceling a reservation will mean canceling of all tickets under the same reservation number. Upon cancellation, users receive a 90 percent refund.

Yes the card used must be issued from Egypt. now how stupid is that and what on earth is the point. It is foreigners that 1) have credit cards 2) want to book trains 3) have no access to ticket booths. Argh!!!!!