Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

's rail network consists of 906 km of railway at

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

, and 36 km of

. The metre-gauge network is part of the Dakar–Niger Railway which crosses the border to

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. The railway is operated by Transrail, managed by the Belgian company Vecturis. The single standard gauge line is a commuter railway in Dakar, the

Train Express Regional Dakar-AIBD The Train Express Regional (TER) is airport rail link in Senegal that connects Dakar with the Blaise Diagne International Airport. It was built by French companies Engie and Thales Group. The contract is valued at €2 billion. History Const ...

, which opened in 2021.

History

Senegal was formerly part of the federation of

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

so the history of its railways is closely linked to that of its neighbours.

Dakar–Saint-Louis railway

This was the first railway line in French West Africa when it opened in 1885. It is now out of service.

Dakar–Niger Railway

Construction work on the Dakar–Niger Railway began at the end of the 19th century. The line was completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

Petit train de banlieue

The Petit train de banlieue (PTB) is a passenger train providing regular commuter services between Dakar railway station and Thiès, via Thiaroye and Rufisque. It was inaugurated in December 1987.

Train Express Regional

This line was in construction from 2016 and was inaugurated in 2019. It links

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

with

Blaise Diagne International Airport Blaise Diagne International Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport international Blaise Diagne, ) is an international airport near the town of Diass in Thiès Region, Senegal, east of downtown Dakar. It serves as the main airport for Dakar, replac ...

Developments since 2000

A gauge conversion from to was planned. In August 2006

RITES Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...

of India was to supply five metre-gauge locomotives, with

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum br ...

s converted to air brakes. In October 2007 70 air braked coaches were ordered from

Rail Coach Factory Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala is a coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways in the state of Punjab. It is located on the Jalandhar-Firozpur railway line. History Established in 1985, RCF is a coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railw ...

in India. A rail line was planned to Faleme River region of South East Senegal for iron ore traffic. In 2010, the Faleme project has been delayed by disputes between the leaseholders. In the meantime, the

Dakar-Port Sudan Railway The Dakar-Port Sudan Railway is a 4,000 km long proposal put forward during 2008 to 2010 to link Dakar, Senegal with Port Sudan, Sudan by a transcontinental railway. It would pass through several countries along the way and would have branch ...

project surfaced. A goods railway was constructed from Thies to a mineral sand mine situated to the west. The track from Thies to Dakar was refurbished, and several trains a week now operate to Dakar port.

References

External links

Transrail s.a.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport in Senegal