The line covered by this new contract from the Algerian Transport Ministry will link the city of Tlemcen (500 km. west of Algiers) with the frontier post at Akkid Abbas and will form part of the planned line connecting Oued Tlélat to the Moroccan border. This segment of line must be built in 48 months.

This project is part of the economic development programme for 2009-2014, which has a budget of approximately 150 billion dollars (around 110 billion euro) and is focused basically on infrastructure.

The first two-thirds of the route, in western Algeria, crosses quite abrupt terrain and will require the construction of 34 viaducts and 9 tunnels. Tunnels and viaducts will account for over 30% of the total length of this section of line.

The project is for a double-tracked electrified line for a maximum rated speed of 220 km/h, and the contract includes signalling and telecommunications systems. The project also envisages construction of a new passenger station in Maghnia, a city 450 km. west of Algiers.

The line awarded by the Bouteflika executive is the second major project to be awarded to FCC's construction division and Algerian Groupe ETRHB HADDAD. In May 2010, a joint venture comprising the two companies was awarded a contract to build a railway west of the capital city, Algiers, linking the wilayas (provinces) of Relizane, Tiaret and Tissemsilt; the 185 km. line, under contract from ANESRIF, has a budget of 935.5 million euro.

This new contract fits with FCC's strategy of strengthening its presence in financially-sound countries where it already operates or in neighbouring countries. In general, and in Algeria in particular, the Group operates through long-term services concessions and contracts, which are paid as the projects advance, and through works contracts (e.g. this new railway section), which are paid in part beforehand and then according to certifications as the project advances.

Experience in railway infrastructure

FCC Group has numerous references in a wide range of railway projects. The most recent include high-speed rail, such as the Madrid-Valencia line, where FCC beat the world record for TBM progress five times on the Siete Aguas-Buñol segment, setting a record of 83.2 metres excavated and 52 concrete rings in place in a single day; the Pajares bypass on the León-Asturias line, including the Pajares tunnel, which measures over 25 km.; and the Guadarrama tunnels, measuring over 28 km., on the high-speed rail link between Madrid and northwestern Spain.

In the area of inner city railways, the company built the rail bed and tunnel between Atocha and Chamartín stations, in Madrid; the extension of Madrid Metro line 2 to Las Rosas, and the Puerta del Sol-Gran Vía section, comprising a cavern 240 metres long located between 30 and 40 metres below ground.

Outside Spain, the company built line 2 of the Athens Metro;the New Delhi Metro connection to Indira Gandhi international airport; the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project (TYSSE), in Canada; Panama City Metro line 1; the railway link to Berlin Brandenburg airport; the rail access to the Vidin-Calafat bridge in Bulgaria; and the Karlsruhe tunnel in Germany. Additionally, FCC's Central European subsidiary, Alpine, recently completed drilling of the Gotthard base tunnel in Switzerland, the longest tunnel in the world (52 km.).

FCC is already operating in Algeria through water management subsidiary Aqualia, which has been awarded two major contracts by the state-owned Algerian Energy Company (AEC) to build and manage two macro seawater desalination plants at Mostaganem and Cap Djinet. Together they represent revenues of more than 1.1 billion euro, and are managed via a 50:50 joint venture with Inima, an OHL subsidiary.

FCC had previously obtained a 359 million euro contract to build a sports complex in the Algerian city of Tizi Ouzou (100 km. east of Algiers). The project includes the construction of a football stadium with 50,000 seats in roofed grandstands and an athletics stadium with capacity for 6,500 people.