Tunisia: Government to buy 110 new trains to replace aging vehicles

Tunisia is on the verge of buying 110 trains to replenish its aging railway sector, Transport Minister told media on Monday.

The state has issued a tender for the trains, Hichem Ben Ahmed told local media La Presse.

The trains will replace current ones which on average are 35 years old, Ben Ahamed also noted in the interview.

The delivery of the passenger trains could take two years.

Tunisia is also mulling plans to revamp its railway for goods shipment, he said, noting that his department has already acquired 20 locomotives for phosphate. 10 of them are already operational, the ten others will be ready by next week.

The government is in the last stages of acquiring 600 other locomotives for the phosphate industry. An important number of locomotives has been also acquired for the agriculture sector mainly for cereal shipping.