Algeria’s rail authority, Agence Nationale d’Etudes et de Suivi des Realisations Ferroviaires (Anesrif), is proceeding with plans to convert the existing track from Oued Tlelat to Akid Abbes into a high-speed rail line. This is part of a national plan to modernise the country’s railway networks.

The project includes the electrification upgrade of the 198-kilometre line, which will connect the two cities with trains travelling at speeds of up to 220 kilometres an hour.

The line is divided into two sections: phase one is from Oued Tlelat to Tlemcen in the northwest of Algeria, stretching 132km; and a second phase will run from Tlemcen to Akid Abbes, extending for 66km.

The project has made headway in 2013. In June, a consortium of Italian construction groups, comprising Condotte d’Acqua and Rizzani de Eccher, awarded Ansaldo STS, also Italian, a E40m ($54m) contract for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) signalling systems and related equipment for the line connecting the cities of Oued Tlelat and Tlemcen. The project is expected to take 30 months to complete.

Ansaldo STS is contracted to cover all the phases of the implementation of levels 1 and 2 of the ERTMS signalling technology as well as the traditional wayside signalling system, to allow mixed traffic on the new line, which will operate both passenger and freight trains. The firm will provide a traffic control centre located in Oran and install equipment on 15 trains.

The Italian consortium is undertaking the construction of phase one of the scheme, while the local/Spanish Groupe ETRHB Haddad/FCC Group joint venture was appointed in 2011 to carry out phase two. A Turkish joint venture of Alarko Holding and Ozgun Construction was appointed in 2009 as the main contractor, but the contract was subsequently terminated.

Spain’s Getinsa is in charge of the works supervision for the construction of a new double-track electric-powered railway line.

The Transport Ministry plans to spend a total of $18bn-20bn on expanding and modernising Algeria’s rail network by 2015.