Tunisia - General Information
Country Name
Tunisia (Tunisie)
National railway system
La Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens (SNCFT)
Official Website
www.sncft.com.tn Note that the English version is marked as "Under construction".
Language
Arabic and French.
Currency
Tunisian Dinar, symbol TND.
UIC code
Numeric 91; alpha TN
Timetable
Journey Planner
Downloadable Timetable
- There do not appear to be any downloadable timetables available for the Main Lines.
- Tunis Suburban
- Sousse Suburban
Printed Timetable
No book for the whole network seems to be available, but printed leaflets for individual routes are available at many stations.
Engineering Information
None.
Maps
There is no currently available published map of Tunisian Railways. A hand drawn map of the Tunis area is available on the Rinbad website.
Gauge
Standard and Metre.
Electrification
- 25 kV 50Hz SNCFT: Sousse – Mahdia and, in course of being electrified, Tunis Ville – Erriadh.
- 650V dc? TGM: Tunis Marine – La Marsa,
Rule of the road
Left on SNCFT; right on TGM.
Other Railways
Tunis - Goulette - Marsa (TGM): Electrified standard gauge suburban route from Tunis Marine to La Marsa Plage, owned and operated by the Société des transports de Tunis (Transtu).
Tourist Lines
None, although private tourist services operate over the SNCFT metre gauge line from Metaloui to the scenic Selja gorge.("Le Lezard Rouge").
Metro
None.
Trams
Tunis.
Recent and future changes
In recent years, there has been considerable investment in the metre gauge lines to the south of Tunis. For example, a line avoiding Sousse was opened in 2004 which eliminates a level crossing and street running in Sousse city centre. A number of cut offs and deviations have also been built e.g. north of Bir Bouregba. The Sahel (= coast) suburban service from Sousse Bab Jedid to Mahdia has been reopened and improved. The intensively worked metre gauge suburban route from Tunis Ville to Erriadh is currently being electrified.
Over recent years the following lines have lost their passenger services
- Les Salines to Le Kef
- Tinja to Menzel Bourguiba
There are long term plans to build a standard gauge route from Libya to Gabes in south eastern Tunisia.
Special Notes
Note that in the present climate of unrest (February 2011) travel to Tunisia is not advised.
Freight services operate over the standard gauge route into Algeria via Ghardimaou, but there are no advertised passenger services.