Algiers transport improvements under way

15/03/2006

With the completion of the tram and underground -- each able to carry 150,000 passengers -- the Algerian government has made a bid for Algiers to be one of the best metropolises in Africa.

By Kaci Racelma for Magharebia in Algiers -- 15/03/06

[File] Work resumed on the underground in 2001

Algiers, home to three million people, suffers from transport problems and traffic saturation. The government is trying to fix the problem using the windfall from the oil trade.

Road traffic is estimated at around 800,000 vehicles, of which 25,000 are heavy goods vehicles. Sources at the transport directorate have confirmed that 118,000 vehicles travel every day between Dar El Beida, a suburb to the east of Algiers, and Cheraga to the south, while the real capacity is only 20,000 vehicles per day.

Menad Ferrah, a journalist for Le Jour newspaper in Algiers, says, "This situation, due to the alarming rise in the numbers of vehicles, is seriously disrupting the townspeople, especially when travelling to work. Many of them arrive late."

Since 2002, the Ministry of Public Works has been undertaking a programme of major urban redevelopment projects, including underpasses and flyovers, with the aim of removing congestion spots and allowing rapid transit between the various neighbourhoods. The removal of nine such spots occurred in the past year with the completion of redevelopment projects such as the Oulmane Khelifa intersection, the Anassers expressway, the Place de la Concorde intersection, the redevelopment of the Addis Abeba intersection, and the Mauretania intersection.

The transport department also passed a resolution forbidding heavy goods vehicles from moving during the daytime through residential districts and the city centre. Djamel Bede, who delivers cold drinks to the centre of Algiers, said, "With the introduction of the measure to prevent heavy goods vehicle movement in residential districts, the situation has been alleviated a little".

The 25,450m-dinar public works programme also has created the Bananiers intersection and redeveloped access to the new airport 20km east of Algiers.

Transport Minister Mohamed Mahlaoui notes that four cableways will be renovated this year, to improve efficiency. The same department is also talking about building new bus-only routes and rail transport.

A tramway to transport for 150,000 passengers per day is in the planning stages. German companies Siemens and Alstom, working in partnership with Algerian entrepreneurs, accepted a tender offer in October 2005.

Amar Khelioua, director of the tramway and cableway projects, told El Watan Economique on 6 March, "The feasibility study was carried out by the wilaya of Algiers in 2001 and the detailed draft project dossier was finalised in 2005." The 20m-dinar project will be completed in the first quarter of 2009, according Khelioua.

Transport sector officials have also looked at the underground, a project dating back to 1983, but which will not be operational until 2008, according to the minister. On 24 June 1990, a government council finally approved a preferred route.

In 2001, a German company and a French company in partnership with Algerian company Cosider resumed construction. The project is nearly 80 per cent complete, with some stations finished. In 2004, Alstom was awarded the 100m-euro rolling stock and station equipment contract. The tramway system should end up carrying 150,000 passengers per day.