Algeria awards US$ 1.7 billion rail contract
By Helen Wright11 March 2011
Spanish contractor FCC's joint venture with Algerian company ETRHB Haddad has won a contract worth € 1.2 billion (US$ 1.7 billion) to build 66 km of railway in Algeria.
The contract, awarded by the Algerian government, is the second railway deal that the consortium has won in the country following the € 930 million (US$ 1.3 billion) contract it obtained in May last year.
The latest contract involves the construction of a double-track electrified rail line for a maximum speed of 220 km/h. The work includes the construction of a new passenger station in Maghnia, a city 450 km west of the capital Algiers, as well as signalling and telecommunications systems.
In addition, the first two-thirds of the route in western Algeria, which crosses uneven terrain, will require the construction of 34 viaducts and 9 tunnels.
The new line will form part of the planned line connecting the coastal town of Oued Tlélat to the Moroccan border. Completion is due in 2015.
The rail project is part of Algeria's infrastructure drive under its economic development programme for 2009-2014, which has a budget of approximately € 110 billion (US$ 151 billion).
