On Monday, 9 April, President of the Algerian Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika inaugurated two extensions of the Algiers metro operated by RATP Dev subsidiary RATP El Djazaïr.
The Algiers line 1 metro entered service in 2011. This is the second major extension to the line with two branches connecting:
- Grande-Poste and la Place des Martyrs, 1.7km line extension with two stations
- Hai El Badr and Ain Naadja, 3.6 km and three stations including a 135-metre viaduct.
Since its launch in November 2011, RATP Group has regularly implemented modernisation actions for the network with a first successful extension in 2015 along with improved quality of service featuring interoperability between the tramway and metro in 2016 with an integrated ticketing solution. The satisfaction rate of 98% for several years shows how passengers have welcomed these developments.
Transdev Group President Aomar Hadbi stated “the inauguration by His Excellency, the President of the Algerian Republic, of two extensions to the Algiers metro is very good news for passengers. I offer my heartfelt congratulations to those who contributed to this success and thank our partner RATP Dev for succeeding in this adventure and for future projects”.
“Since 2011 RATP Dev has been proud to accompany Algerian authorities in their desire to develop a high-performance transport network that is innovative and sustainable and has been implementing its acknowledged international expertise in metro systems for the inhabitants of Algiers”, stated Laurence Batlle, president of the RATP Dev executive board.
Other extensions are being completed or will soon be so to ensure by 2020 a metro system stretching across 40 km from Dar El Beida (in the eastern suburbs of Algiers) to Draria (on the western heights of the city) and including the Houari Boumediene international airport.
RATP El Djazaïr in figures
- 28 million journeys per year
- 18 km of lines
- 16 stations
- Over 100,000 passengers daily at present and up to 200,000 expected after extensions A and C are opened
- 800 employees, of which 95% are local
RATP Dev in Algeria: dynamic presence
RATP Dev and its subsidiary RATP El Djazaïr won in 2007 from EMA (Entreprise Métro d’Alger) the contract to mobilise, operate and maintain Algiers’ first metro line. Algiers remains the first city in the Maghreb to have a metro system. It is, along with Cairo, the only heavy metro system on the African continent.
Given the success of operations, RATP Dev has been accompanying Algerian authorities in their tramway projects through a joint venture, the SETRAM (Société d’Exploitation des Tramways) with EMA, Transtev and RATP Dev.
SETRAM operates tramways in Algiers, Oran, Constantine and Sidi Bel Abbes and recently launched the first tramway in southern Algeria next to the desert in Ouargla.