Algeria’s Enterprise Metro d’Alger (Ema) is inviting bids by 5 September for the concession to operate the Eastern line of the Algiers tramway.

In June, Ema invited companies to submit bids for the contract to carry out the design and supervision of construction for the extension of the Eastern line.

The extension will run from Les Fusilles to Bir Mourad Rais, which is a district in southern Algiers.

The first part of the 23-kilometre Eastern line serves the area east of Algiers. It runs from the Carrefour des Fusilles (Hussein Dey) to the centre of Dergana, which is close to the airport.

The first section of Algiers tramway opened in May (MEED 12:5:11).

The first phase is 7.2 kilometres long and runs from Cinq Maisons to Bordj el-Kiffan district in the eastern suburbs of Algiers. It has 13 stations.

In 2006, a consortium comprising France’s Alstom, Italy’s Todini and local ETRHB won the construction contract for the first line of the tramway. The line was initially expected to be operational in 2009.

France’s Systra and RATP Developpement and the local Assistance a la Construction is the consultant.

Algeria is planning to build 200 tram lines across 14 cities over the next decade in an effort to address rapid population growth and worsening congestion.