Madar (Algiers) - Algeria's national agency for the study and monitoring of rail investments (Anesrif) has presented the route of a new 265.5 km railway linking El Bayadh to Djelfa via Aflou and Laghouat, at a meeting chaired by El Bayadh governor Noureddine Belaribi on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the news site TSA reported on Wednesday.
The project is a single-track line with structures designed to take a second track later. It will carry both passengers and freight, at 220 km/h for passenger trains and 100 km/h for freight trains, using diesel-electric locomotives, the site said.
The line runs 92 km through El Bayadh province (a city-centre station, an airport stop and Boualem station), 93.6 km through Laghouat province (a stop at Bouzertala and stations at Brida and Aflou) and 79.4 km through Djelfa province, via El Idrissia and Douis stations, ending at Ain El Bel.
The governor called for closer coordination on the ground between the design office, Anesrif and local services. The route will be reviewed once reservations over land-use plans and the urban fabric of El Bayadh and its new urban hub are lifted, he said, also asking that studies on protecting the airport from flood risk be taken into account.
The source did not give the project's cost, contractor or construction timetable.
