As part of its national transport policy, Tunisia has assigned a strategic function to the rail sector, making it the first target of its modal shift plan.
Tunisia plans to invest 36 billion dinars (about 11.6 billion USD) to develop rail transport by 2040, Transport Minister Rabie Majidi (photo) announced this week during the 17th edition of the Middle East Rail Show, in Abu Dhabi.
This investment is aligned with the 2040 strategic vision of the transport and logistics sector, which includes 47 infrastructure projects requiring 68 billion dinars. The funds devoted to rail projects will be mobilized largely within the framework of public-private partnerships (PPP), in particular for the Sfax metro, the light metro of Greater Tunis and the works to extend the rapid rail network (RFR) of this same region.
The country will also carry out the feasibility study of the railway interconnection project with Libya and Algeria, with planned connections to West Africa. Other planned achievements concern the renovation and acquisition of rolling stock, in this case wagons to increase the volumes of phosphate transported by rail. The objective is to increase the annual flow to 9 million tons.
