The train line referred to in the lyrics runs from Metlaoui in the north through the Selja Gorges in the Atlas Mountains to Tozeur on the border of the Sahara desert in the south, the frontier mentioned is subsequently the Tunisian-Algerian.

The track was built in the early 1900s at an enormous cost of both state finances and human lives in order for the Bey of Tunis (the King of Tunisia) to travel in grand style to his winter palace in the oasis town of Tozeur and largely also to impress foreign dignitaries on visit.

With all five carriages painted deep-red it was colloquially named the Lézard Rouge (Red Lizard) by the oppressed and empoverished Tunisian people and was seen as a symbol of both the beys's power and extravagant Western-influenced life-style and the French imperialism.

[1] After the bankrupt Tunisia became an autonomous republic in 1957 and the then reigning Bey from the Husainid Dynasty had lost both his political influence and his substantial inherited personal wealth, the train set with its luxurious Belle Époque interiors of brocaded velvet armchairs, overhead antique-globed lighting, brass fittings, mahogany marquetry and panoramic windows was confiscated by the new government but due to its symbolical value stored in a depot and left to its destiny.

Despite its many atypicalities and for its genre comparatively complex structure, "I treni di Tozeur" appeared on the CD set of Winners and Classics produced to coincide with the Congratulations special of late 2005 as well as on the accompanying DVD.

[10] The original duet version of "I treni di Tozeur" with Alice and Franco Battiato features in Italian film director Nanni Moretti's award-winning 1985 comedy La messa è finita.