The Algeria-Tunisia railway resumed its services on Sunday morning after a nearly three-decade hiatus because of political turmoil in Algeria, and a deteriorating security situation in the 1990s.
The inaugural commercial service was launched from Tunis to Algeria’s Annaba Station.
The train will travel a distance of 357 km, accommodating up to 300 passengers per trip.
Tunisia’s Acting Minister of Transport Sarra Zafarani Zanzri and her Algerian counterpart Mohamed El Habib Zahana gave the go-ahead for this first journey at the Tunis railway station.
The seven-hour journey will cover more than 300 km with stops in the stations of Beja, Jendouba, Ghar el-Damma and Algeria's Souk Ahras and Annaba, he said.
In June, the two sides ran several test trips after signing an agreement on the mechanisms for re-running a train between Tunisia and Algeria.
The Tunisian National Railways Company will first run the trips, which will boost tourism and trade between the two countries, and will ease the pressure on congested land crossings. Nearly 3 million Algerian tourists arrive in Tunisia annually.
