train time at Colomb-Béchar, Algeria, circa 1906

The Colomb was applied at the time of colonisahion; today the Colomb has been dropped. The loco in the photo carries the word Etat on the headstock which will be a reference to the railway company in France.

The station was put into service in 1906 upon the opening of the section of 51 km between Ben Zireg (village of the commune of Béchar) and Colomb-Béchar of the old narrow gauge line from Oran to Kenadsa via Saïda. Preceded by the old station of Hassi El Haouari, it was situated at kilometer post 748.4 of the line and was its terminus.

The station was one of the fortified stations in Algeria constructed by the French army between 1881 and 1906 along the line between Saïda and Béchar.

In 1921, the line from Oran to Colomb-Béchar was extended to Kenadsa to allow the transport of coal extracted from the coal deposits in the Kenadsa region. Kenadsa station then became the new terminus of the line.

In 1942, a branch line of the Mediterranean-Niger railway was created between Colomb-Béchar and Kenadsa station, a standard gauge line which runs along its entire length of the narrow gauge railway line put into service in 1921. A final section of the trans-Saharan railway, 90 km long, between Colomb-Béchar and Abadla , was put into service in 1948.

In 1962, after Algerian independence, the lines from Bouarfa to Béchar and from Béchar to Kenadsa were closed, as was the Colomb-Béchar – Méditerranée-Niger station, which was later destroyed.

In 2010, the section from El Biod to Béchar of the old line from Oran to Kenadsa via Saïda was upgraded to standard gauge. At the same time, a new section between Redjem Demouche and El Biod was put into service, thus extending the line that connected Oued Tlelat to Redjem Demouche. All of these sections: Oued Tlelat – Redjem Demouche, Redjem Demouche – El Biod and El Biod – Béchar became the new route to connect Oran to Béchar via Oued Tlelat and these three sections now form the new line from Oued Tlelat to Béchar.