Connecting Boghzoul with Laghouat, passing through Djelfa, before the end of June – Al-Hiwar Algeria

The railway linking Bougzoul and Laghouat, passing through Djelfa, will be handed over at a distance of 250 km, at the end of the first semester of the current year 2023, according to the Minister of Public Works and Basic Facilities, Lakhdar Rakhroukh.

In a public session of the National Assembly devoted to oral questions, chaired by Saleh Goujil, the Speaker of the Council, in the presence of the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Basma Azwar, Rakhrokh stated that “the works related to the completion of the Boghzoul-Djelfa-Laghouat railway line are proceeding at a good pace, and it will be delivered at the latest.” The end of the first semester of the current year, given the importance it derives.

This project is considered one of the segments of the trans-Saharan line “Wasat” that connects Algiers with the south and from there to the Algerian-Nigerian border at a distance of 2439 km at a high speed of trains of up to 220 km / h, as it crosses the wilayas of Medea, Djelfa, Laghouat, Ghardaia, El Manea and Ain Salah. and Tamanrasset, all the way to the border with the State of Niger, according to the explanations provided by the minister when answering a question by Member of Parliament Muhammad Rabah (National Liberation Front Party).

Two lines branch out from this project, one from Ghardaia, as it heads east towards Ouargla and Hassi Messaoud to Touggourt, and the other west from El Manea towards Timimoun and Adrar to Bordj Badji Mokhtar, and from Timoun as well towards the states of Bechar and Tindouf.

And this project was divided – adds Mr. Rakhrukh – into several sections according to the quality of the terrain for each region, including the Al-Shafah-Qasr Al-Bukhari line at a distance of 111 km, where the studies ended with it, but the process is frozen due to the insufficiency of the initial financial cover allocated for it, which is estimated at 100 Billion DZD, which calls for a re-evaluation of 250 billion DZD, bringing the total cost to approximately 350 billion DZD, equivalent to 2.3 billion DZD per kilometer, which is the largest cost at the level of the national network.

The minister attributed this to the quality of the area’s topography, which is “one of the most difficult at the national level,” which requires the construction of large tunnels and bridges along the route of this line.

In addition to this section, the Qasr al-Bukhari-Boughazoul line project at a distance of 42 km, on which the works began before they were frozen by the public authorities through an order to stop the works on January 20, 2016 after the financial hardship that the country experienced at that stage.

In this regard, the minister affirmed that preparations for the conditions for the completion of projects related to the trans-Saharan penetrating line will begin after lifting the freeze on the financial envelope of the concerned sections.

In his response to a question by a member of the National Assembly, Abd al-Haq Brahimi (free), related to the duplication of Road No. 46 linking the borders of the state of Biskra and the municipality of Shuaiba, Rakhrokh confirmed that it will be re-proposed among the priorities in the draft finance law for the year 2024.

As for the national road linking the east and west of the state of Awlad Jalal, he confirmed that it was proposed to register a process related to the study and completion of the duplication of this road linking Besbas, Awlad Jalal, Al-Dawsun and Al-Shuaiba at a distance of 58.5 km, explaining that the process related to the study was recorded at the central level with a financial cover. It is estimated at 9 million DZD, and legal procedures have been initiated by the Directorate of Public Works of the wilaya to select the studies office that will prepare the study.