France’s Alstom and its consortium partners Corsan, Corviam and Cosider, has won a contract to extend the Constantine tramway by 10 kilometres.

Alstom’s share of the contract is valued at $88m. It entails the supply of the integrated system, tracks, catenaries, telecommunications and signalling, substations and ticketing equipment. The extension project is to be completed within three years.

The extension will link the existing Zoughi station with the densely inhabited new city of Ali Mendjeli and with the Mohamed Boudiaf airport.

The extended line will be equipped with the first Citadis trams manufactured at the Annaba site in the north-east of Algeria by Cital, Alstom’s local joint-venture formed with Ferrovial and Enterprise Metro d’Alger (EMA) in 2010. 

The original 8km line was inaugurated in 2013, and has since carried more than 7.2 million passengers, according to Alstom.

Having operated in Algeria for more than 60 years, Alstom said the new order confirms EMA’s confidence in the French company’s solutions. Alstom has already supplied integrated tramway systems for Algiers, Oran and Constantine and is supplying infrastructure for the tramways of Ouargla, Mostagamen and Setif.

It also very recently won a $220m contract to supply Algeria’s Societe Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires (SNTF) with 17 Coradia Polyvalent inter-city trains.