Initial interest does not mean work has begun
Libya – Engineer Hamza Al-Sharif has put forward a concept for an urban railway along Benghazi’s coastal corridor, running from Sidi Khalifa east of the city to the new Benghazi International Airport in the west, over a proposed length of about 58.4 kilometres with 17 stations. The idea remains at the concept stage and has not moved into implementation.
Proposal within planning for Benghazi to 2050
According to a Libyan News Agency report from Benghazi dated 16 September 2026, Al-Sharif, the originator of the idea, presented his concept within the Global Competitive Initiative for Urban Planning for Greater Benghazi to 2050, launched by the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund and covering transport, infrastructure, urban development, sustainability and investment.
Speaking to the agency, Al-Sharif said the idea arose from a search for transport modes that keep pace with the city’s urban expansion, as reliance on private cars grows for travel between residential, work, education and service areas.
The urban rail option is being floated amid the absence of a regular public transport system, urban sprawl and rising car numbers — factors that create daily mobility challenges in Benghazi and its outskirts and reopen debate on possible mass-transit choices for the future.
Capacity and journey time: early estimates
The initial concept envisages capacity for more than 50,000 passengers a day, with an estimated journey time between the ends of the route of about 25 to 30 minutes. Those figures remain preliminary estimates open to revision once specialised studies on traffic flows, transport demand, population density and land use are completed.
The proposed alignment would pass through residential, commercial, service, educational and sports areas on the way to the airport, with the possibility of linking it later to other transport modes as study and planning stages determine.
Studies and financing will set the next steps
Al-Sharif said assessing the project requires studies that establish expected demand, its likely effect on traffic, construction and operating costs, and how well the route fits urban expansion and land use.
Next steps would need technical, economic and traffic studies to be completed, and the final route, stations, capacity, cost, funding sources and contracting arrangements to be fixed, before moving from concept to implementation.
Four proposed project phases
The initial concept sets out four phases: studies and planning; design and contracting; construction and delivery; then operation and maintenance, with specialised studies defining the requirements of each stage.
Five foreign firms show initial interest
Al-Sharif said the initiative allowed the idea to be presented to companies specialising in transport, railways, infrastructure and technology, noting that five foreign firms had shown initial interest in exploring cooperation on the project.
He stressed that this interest does not mean a move to implementation: any further steps depend on study results and institutional decisions, as well as defining financing and partnership arrangements.
Viability tied to the city’s needs and fiscal capacity
With Benghazi residents still relying heavily on private cars, and with the city sprawling and its districts spread out, mass transit remains among the urban-planning files for the years ahead.
Whether an urban railway is viable will still depend on the technical, economic and traffic studies, and on how far the project matches the city’s needs and its ability to fund construction, operation and maintenance.
