INAUGURATION OF THE FIRST SUBURBAN RAILWAY LINE IN TUNISIA

It is called ‘Line E’, but it is the first line in the new suburban rail network that Tunisians have been able to use since spring 2023. This new service to the south-western districts of the capital will initially link the centre of Tunis to Sidi Hassine Séjoumi, from Barcelone station to Bougatfa station. Eventually, the whole of Greater Tunis will be connected to the RFR.

From 2007 to 2023, SYSTRA led the project management consortium with Studi, under the supervision of the SNCFT, the county’s national railway company, with cross-financing from the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency (AFD). The key to the project is a complete assignment, which began in 2010, for the control and monitoring of the implementation, in coordination with all the project participants and in close collaboration with the project owner. The inauguration took place in the presence of Rabie Majidi, the Tunisian Minister of Transport.




The inaugural train left Bougatfa station at 4.40pm for Tunis, with officials and residents of Sidi Hassine on board.

SYSTRA provided the RFR with its expertise in suburban railways, with state-of-the-art solutions such as ETCS-1 signalling, GSM-R telecommunications, a 25,000-volt power supply and a centralised control station. The overhead section was built with two pre-stressed U-shaped viaducts of more than one kilometre in length, reducing the amount of concrete used while giving the Tunisian authorities the benefit of a patented structure with internationally recognised qualities.

Entire network

Line E:

Phase 1:

Major structures:

www.systra.com