Algiers-Oran Railway tells the stories of everyday Algerians

2006-12-01

The train is the most common means of transportation on the Algiers-Oran route. Even with an outdated infrastructure, many choose the train for the low price and comfort. The ride takes them through Algeria's plains, gorges and olive groves, carrying a variety of passengers -- each with their own story.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers -- 01/12/06

[File] Passengers hurry to board the train to Oran in Agha.

The train remains the most common means of transportation on the Algiers-Oran route. With a railway spanning 450km, Algeria's trains have become a way of life and tell the stories of everyday people. As they begin their rides, travellers settle in, and try, each in their own way, to make the journey less of a trial.

At noon, Algiers' Agha station is alive with movement. Houria Saidoun, a passenger from Oran, hurries along, looking for the platform where the fast train for Oran -- Algeria's second largest city -- is waiting. "I live at my son's home in Algiers. But I'm going back to Oran."

The fast train, the last train of the day, is nearly bursting. "I'll be in Oran in four and a half hours. The train stops at just one station, in Chlef (230km west of Algiers). But the 12:30 train stops at 15 stations, with all the extra time that takes, and all the people getting on and off," Farid Chelik, a businessman who works in Oran, says.

Chelik prefers the train, even though the plane takes just 50 minutes. "The plane is attractive in an emergency, but you still have to find a seat. There are only four flights a day between Algiers and Oran, and you have to reserve a seat at least ten days in advance, check in at the airport at least one hour before takeoff and arrange for a taxi to meet you when you arrive."

Samir Chelfi, a political science student, agrees. "The return flight costs 7,400 dinars, while the train ticket is just 710 dinars. For me, shuttling between Algiers and Oran several times a year, the train remains the least expensive."

"It takes six hours by road, with traffic jams, the risk of accidents and the lack of comfort, and costs more," Chelfi says, comparing the train to the roadway.

As the stewardess announces the train's departure, we climb aboard. Several carriages are overflowing. "It's always like this," says conductor Karim Feddal. He says, "The SNTF (Algerian National Railway) can't stop anyone from catching a train on the grounds that it's full. The 'sleeping' and 'comfort' compartments have reserved seats, but otherwise we try to take everyone."

[File] The Oran-Algiers train makes only one stop

The train creeps out of Agha station, and the air conditioning comes to life. Immediately the complaints start. "Put your cigarettes out. Can't you see you're making sick people uncomfortable?" an old woman shouts. The conductor points out the "no smoking" stickers -- but when he leaves, people light up.

We are soon out of Algiers and travelling along the verdant plain of Mitidja, 5km west of the capital. Passengers engage in lively discussions, with very few looking out the window.

When the train plunges into the Chiffa gorges, en route to Oued Djer, a heavy silence weighs on the passengers. "This region reminds us of the dark years of terrorism," Malek Ramdani, a conductor approaching retirement, says. "Here we lost several goods trains, derailed by bombs." He points out some wreckage still lying alongside the tracks.

The passengers regain their spirits as the train draws into the town of Khemis Miliana. Then it's back to the plains, which continue as far as Chlef, passing through Ain-Defla on the way. In the refreshment car, coffee flows freely. There we bump into a group of young people from Algiers.

"As you can see, we spend our lives on trains," remarks 20-year-old Amine Hardi. "We're going to Zouia (near to the Algerian-Moroccan border) to buy clothes."

These young people buy clothes in the wholesale markets, and sell them on the pavements of Algiers. Arriving in Oran, they must get a taxi to Zouia -- 160km further west. "But first, we're going to have a good time in the nightclubs in Oran," says Hardi.

Karim Benseghir, the oldest in the group, is sorry that the night train has been stopped. "That would have saved us having to spend the night in a hotel or in nightclubs."

In 1995, the SNTF stopped running the night train, which left Algiers at 20:00 hours and arrived at Oran at 6:00 in the morning. The company cites safety concerns. "Why has the night train from Algiers to Annaba (500km east of Algiers) been reintroduced?" wonders Karim.

The train arrives in Chlef, the only stop. Young retailers, like Karim and his friends, on their way to El Attaf wholesale market, descend from the train. Sandwich, coffee and cigarette sellers climb in and move through the carriages. They disappear as soon as a police patrol board.

[File] Security officers patrol Algeria's trains.

There are security officers on board all of the trains. "The rise in juvenile delinquency has not spared the trains," Hamid Besbas, an officer on the Algiers-Oran fast train, says. "Throwing stones at trains causes huge damage. Last year, we lost a conductor leaving Algiers."

SNTF Infrastructure Director Ali Leulmi says train use has decreased in recent years due to the outdated and deteriorated equipment. It has gone from 60 million passengers in 1990 to 30 million passengers in 2005. SNTF has initiated a massive modernisation -- including the electrification of part of the track and the launch of a high speed line in partnership with French companies -- and hopes to be carrying 80 million passengers by 2010.

We leave Chlef after half an hour's wait. From the train, you can see queues of cars at junctions across the city. "What a good job I caught the train. Otherwise, I'd have suffered on the journey," says Samila Karmiche. She is ill with cancer, and obliged to travel between Algiers and Oran twice a month for chemotherapy sessions in Algiers.

We cross the Sig plain of olive groves, having crossed the town of Relizane at high speed. Youths are sitting on the steps at the train's open doorways. "There's natural air conditioning here," says Riad Khadim, a young man called up for military service. "I'd rather put up with the danger than stifle inside. If it's not the air conditioning breaking down, it's the overcrowding of the carriages which makes the air unbreathable. Here I'm not bothering anyone, and no one's bothering me."

The train slows down as it enters an eastern suburb of Oran -- Senia -- where the airport, industrial areas and a university campus are located. Passengers gather their belongings. At 17:00, the train has finally come to a halt at Oran's "El Mennaouer" station, in the "plateau" district of the city. The journey that once took eight hours now takes under five hours. The fast train from Algiers to Oran has lived up to its name. This reportage is the first of a 3-part series on train travel in Maghreb countries. Next week, a train ride takes us across Tunisia.

This reportage is the first of a three-part series on train travel in Maghreb countries. Next week, a train ride takes us across Tunisia.