The population of the Tunis metropolitan area is approximately 2.39 million (as of 2008), and is the center of the economy, society, and the administration of Tunisia. The population growth rate of the metropolitan area has reached 1.5% per year. Due to the geographical constraints, the increasing population has led the city to expand rapidly to the north and south, and is causing a serious rush-hour traffic congestion problem and environmental aggravation. The number of private automobiles per 1, 000 people has rose from 60 in 1994 to 100 in 2002, due to the relaxation of automobile import regulations, etc., in the recent years. Moreover, the traffic volume is predicted to rise 2.6% per year by 2021, and is obvious that the problem is worsening. The objective of the project is to correspond to the increasing transportation demand in the southern part of the Tunis metropolitan area, reduce traffic congestion by shifting the transportation from road to railway, and contribute to the alleviation of air pollution through electrification of the 23 km-railway (Tunis - Borj Cedria) of the southern metropolitan area.