Tunisia plans to invest 36 billion dinars in the rail sector by 2040 and launch a study on the African railway line with high profitability, said Minister of Transport, Rabi Mejidi.
He added that the country encourages investment in intelligent transport, the use of new technologies and partnerships.
In a speech to a number of officials attending the 17th edition of the Middle East Rail Conference and Roads and Traffic Expo in Abu Dhabi, the Minister mentioned the package of reform projects and real, renewable and sustainable investments that will be implemented by 2040 in line with a strategic vision for the transport and logistics sector. This set includes 47 infrastructure projects with a total investment estimated at 68 billion dinars.
He stressed that rail transport in Tunisia is an absolute priority in the National Transport Master Plan, proposing an ambitious investment plan of 36 billion dinars, with the planned implementation of a large part of this project within the framework of public-private partnership (PPP).
Mejidi said Tunisia is planning to restructure the companies operating in the rail sector, develop human resources and legislative texts, as well as urban rail transport in cities and districts by completing the project of the rapid rail network (RFR) in Greater Tunis.
The RFR includes 5 lines with a total length of 86 km and serves more than 600,000 inhabitants per day with 28 express trains, while the Sfax metro project includes 5 lines with a total length of 70 km and serves 600,000 inhabitants per day.
The government is working on the extension of the light metro network of Greater Tunis and the connection of the Tunis Lake region to this network, which extends over 15 km for the benefit of 300 or 350 thousand inhabitants.
The Ministry of Transport will work between 2024 and 2026 on the renovation and modernisation of 50 to 80 light rail vehicles at an estimated cost of between 150 and 350 million dinars, in addition to the purchase of 54 new vehicles at a cost of 540 million dinars.
Tunisia is committed to increasing the quantities of phosphates transported by the rail network to 9 million tonnes per year by allocating financial resources to the rehabilitation of wagons and the acquisition of 600 new wagons at a cost of around 300 million dinars, besides implementing plans for the interconnection of logistical zones.
Tunisia, as chair of the African Union of Railways, has taken steps to revitalise the Union in its interregional context by launching a study on the implementation of a highly profitable railway line.
This line will link the north and south of Tunisia with Algeria and Libya, and extend to West Africa via the Sahara road linking Algiers and Lagos.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse