The history of the railway in Algeria began with the colonisation of the country by France. On 8 April 1857, a decree ordered the creation of of railways, beginning with the construction of a standard gauge line from Algiers to Blida, which started on 12 December 1859. The French private company Compagnie des chemins de fer algériens started working on the line with the help of the French army on 11 July 1860. Around the same time, the company obtained permission to create an Oran-Sig line and a Constantine-Skikda line. However, due to economic difficulties, only the Algiers-Blida line was finished, and it was subsequently opened to the public on 8 September 1862. Afterwards, 5 other companies started the construction of new lines:
