Algeria Boosts Rail Network Expansion with Investment in New Trains

Algeria intends to spend nearly 378 billion Algerian dinars (US$2.8 billion) to buy a wide variety of trains to support its expanding network as part of a development plan stretching until 2035, the official Algerian news agency has reported.

The trains include high-capacity locomotives, passenger transport cars, self-propelled trains, high-speed self-propelled trains, freight coaches and maneuvering locomotives, the agency said, quoting an official from the National Company for Rail Transport (SNTF).

The government in the OPEC member will fund the project in stages, the first of which includes the purchase of 400 train coaches at a cost of around DZD138 billion (US$1.03 billion), said Sifian Aibash, the Company’s transport manager.

“It is a huge programme that will continue until 2035…it includes the supply of a large number of various types of train to support the rail development strategy,” he said.

SNTF recently issued international tender for the supply of electric trains and 12 locomotives for passengers and freight to match the increase in rail lines over the past few years.