Tunisia High Speed Rail Phase 1

The Tunisia High Speed Rail Line is part of the Trans-Maghreb High Speed Rail Network, a regional project aiming at connecting the main cities of the Maghreb countries, namely: Casablanca, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. The Tunisian section of the high-speed rail (HSR) network covers a total length of 840 km.

The Tunisia HSR project will be implemented in three phases:

Phase 1 (Ras Jedir – Gabès, 180 km): Construction of a new line between Ras Jedir on the Tunisian-Libyan border and Gabès with an electrified double track allowing a top speed of 250 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains. This first phase will use, to the extent possible, the same track as for the upcoming Gabès – Médenine railway line. The project, estimated at TND 2.6 billion, is to be procured as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.

Phase 2 (Gabès – Tunis – Bizerte, 480 km): Construction of a new high-speed line that connects Bizerte to Gabès via Tunis, Nabeul, Sousse and Sfax. This will be done either through the upgrade of the existing metre-gauge rail line or through a new separate standard gauge rail line. The estimated cost is TND 14 billion.

Phase 3 (Tunis – Tabarka, 180 km): Restructuring of the existing standard gauge rail line between Tunis and the Algerian borders or construction of new section if required. The estimated cost is TND 9.4 billion.