Algeria has officially inaugurated a 950-kilometer mining railway line connecting the Gara Djebilet iron-ore deposit in the far southwest to the wider national rail network via Béchar and Tindouf, a project aimed at unlocking one of the world’s largest untapped iron resources. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune presided over the launch, including the first train transporting iron ore to Oran, marking a tangible shift toward economic diversification beyond hydrocarbons and a strategic assertion of industrial sovereignty.
The railway inauguration
On February 1, 2026, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune officially inaugurated the Western Mining Railway Line, spanning approximately 950 km from Gare Djebilet through Tindouf to Béchar. A ministerial delegation arrived in Tindouf to flag off the first passenger train on the line, illustrating its dual role in both mineral logistics and human mobility. President Tebboune also chaired the ceremony welcoming the first iron ore shipment transported by rail from Gara Djebilet to Oran, a key industrial hub.
The railway is specifically designed to facilitate the transport of iron ore from the Sahara to the Mediterranean coast, enabling export and domestic industrial use.
Industrial sovereignty and diversification
Algeria frames this project not merely as infrastructure but as strategic economic transformation: In a Council of Ministers session in late 2025, President Tebboune ordered the launch of iron ore exploitation at Gara Djebilet in early 2026, framing it as part of “economic sovereignty and diversification of resources beyond hydrocarbons.” The project has been a priority for the President, with the Minister of Public Works stating it “will be completed before the end of 2025” and highlights the President’s vision of using it as a lever for the economic and social development of southwestern Algeria.
The Gara Djebilet deposit holds reserves estimated at more than 3.5 billion tonnes of iron ore, positioning it among the largest globally.
Regional integration and infrastructure
The Western Mining Railway line connects remote parts of the Sahara to national industrial centers, enhancing regional connectivity and mobility, with services for both freight and passengers. The project’s sheer scale, 950 km of desert track, represents a major logistical achievement in a challenging environment. By combining mineral extraction with robust rail logistics, Algeria sends a signal to investors and trading partners that it intends to pivot part of its economic base away from hydrocarbons and into mineral-anchored industrialization.
A model for resource-led infrastructure
Algeria’s approach, pairing extraction with transport infrastructure, could become a template for other African states with significant mineral endowments but limited logistics networks. The deployment of rail to convert geological wealth to economic output is a long-term structural play rather than a short-term export strategy. The line’s operation, moving ore to processing hubs like Oran, strengthens the value chain infrastructure necessary for downstream industries (e.g., steelmaking), increasing local beneficiation rather than raw export.
Algeria’s new mining railway is more than steel and sleepers laid across the Sahara; it is a strategic infrastructure commitment that ties resource wealth to national industrial evolution. By operationalizing Gara Djebilet’s ore traffic and linking it to processing and export gateways, the country has taken a defining step in reconfiguring its economic geography. As Africa’s states seek models for leveraging natural assets into durable growth, Algeria’s railway may prove a benchmark of infrastructure-led development, not just for the Maghreb, but for resource-rich continental partners seeking similar trajectories.
Strategic Figures of the Western Mining Railway
Length: ~950 km.
First iron ore shipment: Flagged off by President Tebboune on February 1, 2026.
Reserves at Gara Djebilet: >3.5 billion tonnes.
