Societe nationale des chemins de fer tunisiens

The Societe nationale des chemins de fer tunisiens, known as SNCFT, is the national railway company of Tunisia, operating under the direction of the country's Ministry of Transport since its founding on December 27, 1956, when it replaced the former Compagnie fermiere des chemins de fer tunisiens. Headquartered in Tunis, it manages two separate track gauge systems for historical reasons, about 471 kilometers of standard gauge in the north and 1,674 kilometers of metre gauge in the center and south of the country. As of 2003 the company carried roughly 35.7 million passengers and 11.6 million tons of freight annually with a workforce of about 6,000.