The beginnings train station (19th century postcard) 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 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 , 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 's
train station (20th century) 's station, primarily for ore from the
Société de l'Ouenza iron mines 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 of railways to expand the existing network. Between 1879 and 1906, the following lines (or parts of them) were finished, totalling : •
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 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 (), the
Béni Saf area railway, providing transportation for its
cement plant (), and in the
Saïda (23 km) and
Aïn Touta areas (). In addition to that, about 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 ). 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==