[ecr]

On the occasion of the commissioning of this railway line, the minister and the delegation accompanying him boarded, as part of a working visit to Oran, a passenger train from the Bethioua industrial estate to Layaida.

This line is part of the major project of Bechar-Tindouf-Gara Djebilet railway line that the country’s supreme authorities are working to implement, involving the extraction of iron ore from Gara Djebilet mine (Tindouf), processing the raw material and using it in the iron production in Oran, along with connecting the line to the port of Arzew.

According to explanations provided on site, the Hassi-Mefsoukh-Bethioua line will also contribute to relieving the considerable burden, on industrialists in the Bethioua industrial estate, related to transporting goods by rail to Oran, other provinces, till the port of Arzew. 

The overall cost of this line, which includes five overpasses and underpasses, 14 hydraulic structures and one protective structure along the route, amounts to over DZD2 billion, it was reported.[/ecr]