National Company for Rail Transport

History

Main article: History of rail transport in Algeria

The beginnings

The history of the railway in Algeria began with the colonisation of the country by France. On 8 April 1857, a decree ordered the creation of 1357 km of railways, beginning with the construction of a standard gauge line from Algiers to Blida, which started on 12 December 1859. The French private company Compagnie des chemins de fer algériens started working on the line with the help of the French army on 11 July 1860. Around the same time, the company obtained permission to create an Oran-Sig line and a Constantine-Skikda line. However, due to economic difficulties, only the Algiers-Blida line was finished, and it was subsequently opened to the public on 8 September 1862. Afterwards, 5 other companies started the construction of new lines:

• La Compagnie Bône - Guelma (BG)
• La Compagnie de l'Est Algérien (EA) (Eastern Algeria)
• La Compagnie Paris - Lyon - Méditerranée (PLM)
• La Compagnie de l'Ouest Algérien (OA) (Western Algeria)
• La Compagnie Franco - Algérienne (FA)

Between 1857 and 1878, the following lines (or parts of them) were finished, totalling 1365 km, which exceeded initial expectations:

• Annaba - Berrahal
• Annaba - Bouchegouf - Guelma
• El Khroub - Oued Zenati
• Constantine - Skikda
• Constantine - Sétif
• Algiers - Thénia
• Algiers - Oran
• Arzew - La Macta - Mohammedia
• Mohammadia - Mécheria
• Oued Tlélat-Sidi Bel Abbès

Nationalisation

After 1879, France divided the railway lines being built into categories of local interest or of general interest, with only the latter being eligible to receive state funding. The 18 July 1879 decree defined the extent of some "general interest" lines and ordered the construction of a further 1747 km of railways to expand the existing network. Between 1879 and 1906, the following lines (or parts of them) were finished, totalling 2035 km:

• Souk Ahras—Tébessa—Le Kouif—Tunisian border
• Berrahal—Ramdane Djamel
• Ouled Rahmoune—Khenchela
• El Guerrah—Biskra
• Sétif—Thénia with further lines to include Tizi Ouzou, Béjaia and Sour El-Ghozlane
• Blida—Berrouaghia
• Mostaganem—Relizane—Tiaret
• Oran—Arzew
• Es Sénia—Aïn Témouchent
• Sidi Bel Abbès—Tlemcen—Moroccan border
• Tabia—Crampel
• Méchéria—Béchar
• Tizi—Mascara

In 1946, Algeria's total railway network comprised a total of 5014 km of active lines, in addition to mine lines, significantly more than the current network. After a while, the private companies were unable to maintain economic stability, which led the French government to buy the Franco - Algérienne, Est Algérien, Bône-Guelma and Ouest Algérien in 1900, 1908, 1905 and 1920 respectively.

On 27 September 1912, the state-owned Compagnie des Chemins de Fer Algériens de l'Etat (CFAE) assumed control of all lines, except those owned by the Compagnie Paris - Lyon - Méditerranée. On 1 July 1921, the CFAE and PLM agreed to share the Algerian railway network with the PLM operating the Algiers-Oran, Oran-Aïn Témouchent, Sidi Bel Abbès-Tlemcen-Oujda-Crampel, Blida-Hassi Bahbah lines (effectively Western Algeria) while the CFAE operated the rest.

On 30 May 1938, both companies were incorporated into the newly founded SNCF, which operated all of France's railway network, with the Algerian network becoming a région. On 1 January 1939, the Office des Chemins de fer Algériens (Office CFA) was created, focusing on the Algerian network.

On 30 June 1959, an agreement was made between the French government and the OCFA leading to the creation of the Société des Chemins de Fer Français en Algérie which commenced operations on 1 January 1, 1960. This new company operated Algeria's railways until its replacement by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Algériens (SNCFA) on 16 June 1963, a year after Algeria's independence.

Post-Independence

On 30 March 1976, the SNCFA split into the following companies:

• SNTF, for the operation and maintenance of the lines;
• SNERIF, for the renewal and extension of the network;
• SIF, for the engineering and modernisation of the infrastructure.

This reorganisation was intended to improve the railway network and services in Algeria, however it proved unsuccessful, and the two latter companies were reintegrated into the SNTF. In 1980, a convention for the relations between the Algerian state and the SNTF was signed, officially called decree N° 88-128 of 28 June 1988. This convention is still in effect and regulates the salaries of the workers and the maintenance of the infrastructure, and bears similarities with the June 1959 convention. In December 1990, the SNTF became an Établissement Public à caractère Industriel et Commercial (EPIC).

Recent investments

Large investment programs were launched after 1980 to improve the Algerian railway network, such as the construction of the Jijel-Ramdane-Djamel line (140 km), the Béni Saf area railway, providing transportation for its cement plant (23 km), and in the Saïda (23 km) and Aïn Touta areas (15 km).

In addition to that, about 1400 km of track were replaced, both the track ballast and the railway ties, as well as the duplication of the tracks of the Rocade Nord in Algiers (about 200 km). Many train stations all over the country were modernised or even reconstructed, and there were also many improvements to the railways in the vicinities of Algiers and Annaba.

A new, separate organisation, Anesrif, has been created to manage infrastructure investment whilst SNTF concentrates on day-to-day operations. Anesrif has awarded a series of contracts to build new infrastructure and upgrade existing lines, including the construction of a single-track line from Relizane to Tiaret and Tissemsilt, forming part of the High Plateau line.

Rolling stock

As of 2017, SNTF's rolling stock inventory consisted of:

• 258 Locomotives
• 10,129 Railway cars
• 380 Passenger cars
• 17 Alstom Coradia - built at De Dietrich Ferroviaire plant in Reichshoffen, France
• 17 CAF TDMD S/599
• 64 Stadler Flirt File:SNTF ZZe-02 - Metz - 2018.jpg|Mainline train Alstom Coradia ZZe-02 File:Train Automotor diésel ZZ 2202 de la SNTF (Algérie).jpg|CAF Regional rail "Inter-villes" Autorail TDMD S/599 File:Swiss Flirt for SNTF Algeria.jpg|Commuter rail Stadler Flirt File:SNTF Train in El Asnam, on the Algiers-Skikda line.jpg|Locomotive GT36HCW with passenger cars File:SNTF Class 060DR, Gare d'Oran.jpg

Railway links to adjacent countries

gauge links were built to both Morocco and Tunisia. The Algeria-Tunisia railway resumed operation in August 2024, after several years of closure, while the land border with Morocco has been closed since 1994.

Affiliations

The SNTF is a member of the following organisations:

• African Union of Railways
• Arab Union of Railways
• Comité du Transport Ferroviaire Maghrebin (CTFM) (has its headquarters in Algiers)
• International Union of Railways (UIC)

References and notes

References

1. "Transport in Algeria". CIA.
2. "SNTF website". SNTF.
3. (2010). "High Plateau railway construction contract". Railway Gazette.
4. (August 12, 2024). "Tunisia-Algeria Railway Resumes Services after 30-Year Hiatus".
5. (July 4, 2021). "Letter from Africa: Lamenting the Algeria-Morocco border closure".