This morning, August 19, 2024, Minister of Equipment and Housing in charge of managing the Ministry of Transport, Sarah Zaafrani Zenzri, went to the Mlassine region, where she gave the signal to start operating the tunnel linking Bardo and Zahrouni.
The Minister was accompanied by the first delegate in charge of managing the affairs of the Tunis Governorate, the CEO of the Tunisian Rapid Railway Network Company, a number of officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Tunisian National Railway Company, and representatives of regional and local authorities.
The financial cost of this tunnel is 13.6 million dinars and it consists of a double road in both directions, extending over a length of 300 meters, a width of 15 meters, and a height of 4.5 meters.
The Minister stressed, upon inspecting this technical facility, the need to take the necessary measures to further care for the environmental aspects related to it and its external surroundings and to maintain its full operation, to ensure its social effectiveness, as a basic component of the “D” high-speed railway project, in facilitating movement in this densely populated area, while appreciating the efforts of all stakeholders from the Tunisian Rapid Railway Network Company, the National Tunisian Railway Company and all parties contributing to the achievement. After
that, the Minister of Equipment and Housing and the person in charge of managing the Ministry of Transport inspected the progress of the works of the various facilities affiliated with the Mlassine station, then headed to the Manouba station on board the “Draisine” railway car, to inspect the works in progress in the city of Bardo and on an important part of this line that extends a total of 13.5 km from “Tunis City” (Barcelona station) passing through the areas of Sayyida Manoubia, Mlassine Tunnel, then Rawda, Bartal, Manouba, Bourtaqal and the final station of Qabaa.
In this regard, the Minister recommended all stakeholders to respect the deadlines set for the entry of Line D into operation, and to accelerate the pace of work related to it and complete it according to the required technical standards in terms of quality and safety and coordination with all concerned parties to overcome the difficulties that may hinder the completion of the work within the deadlines set for it, while conducting the necessary tests, stressing the need to double efforts in order to respond to citizens’ aspirations and enable them to take advantage of the high-speed rail network, considering the decent, comfortable and safe transportation conditions provided by this network, similar to Line E linking Tunis and Bougatfa and what it has brought about as a qualitative shift in the lifestyle of users of this line, which extends over a length of 10 km.
In the same context, the Minister highlighted the continuous attention given to developing an integrated public transport system, in which the railway transport system is a fundamental element, given its differential advantages, noting the role assigned to the rapid railway network project in upgrading the field of urban transport thanks to its ability to accommodate the increasing demand and support other forms of public transport at the level of “Greater Tunis”, as Line D is expected to transport more than 20,000 passengers per day in its first phase, noting that the total final cost of completing the first part of the rapid railway network project is close to 1,400 million dinars.
On the sidelines of this visit, the Minister stressed the need to take more care of the stations in terms of cleanliness and aesthetics, and to protect the equipment from intruders and vandalism, and to secure the work sites and provide the appropriate conditions for their completion in accordance with the requirements of the Health, Safety, Security and Environment Charter (HSSE), and to intensify awareness of this essential issue. She also stressed the need to generalize information systems in all public transport facilities and to accelerate the implementation of the trend based on digitizing transport services and activities with the desired effectiveness and efficiency.
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