The regional express train(TER) is the beginning of a solution to the numerous traffic jams that characterize road transport in Dakar.
Five years after the construction began (December 14, 2016), Senegal inaugurated its first regional express train on Monday, December 27, 2021. This is the very first railway built since the country gained independence in 1960. According to official figures, the overall cost of the railway infrastructure is estimated at 780 billion CFA francs.
Indeed, with 15 trains running on electricity and 14 stations along a 35 km stretch, the TER will make it possible to link the capital Dakar to the city of Diamniadio in 20 minutes, whereas it takes several hours in the morning by car when the traffic is congested. It is a standard gauge electric railway line linking Dakar station to Diamniadio and planned to reach Blaise Diagne International Airport by 2023 as well as new towns in the hinterland.
In addition, the main objective of this line is to better connect the capital with the rest of Senegal and decongest Dakar. President Macky Sall during his speech at the inaugural ceremony in Diamniadio said that “This is a historic step in our collective journey towards an emerging Senegal. The TER opens a new perspective in mass transportation with 15 trains. Each train can accommodate up to 565 passengers for a potential of 115,000 passengers per day.
The TER, a response to the challenges of a growing city
In the big African cities, a major problem arises because of the increasing urbanization. Indeed, Dakar is one of its cities too saturated with a population of about three million inhabitants. Every year, it adds 100,000 people to its population. Thus, the city’s recent toll highway was a first initiative to combat the very congested road traffic.
The TER is a major revolution in the land of Teranga, since it is a welcome innovation in the Senegalese capital, which is very congested. In fact, according to figures, the city of Dakar is home to 20% of Senegal’s total population and accounts for over 85% of the country’s jobs. As a result, there is a compression of the world in one place. According to a World Bank study, congestion in the city of Dakar costs the country’s economy some 152 million euros per year. Hence the emblematic project which importance is no longer to be demonstrated.
This rail line addresses the problems of a disproportionate downtown and dormitory suburbs. Users of this regional express train will see their travel time greatly reduced: the time is estimated at 45 minutes for an average journey during rush hour.
Socio-economic impact of TER
Traffic jams are characteristic of road transport in Dakar, and access to the city center is becoming more and more difficult. All this has important consequences on the daily life of the population and on the profitability of economic activities in the capital, the main development pole of Senegal. However, with the completion of this railroad line, the stations will become revitalization areas for the cities in the sense that they will revitalize the activities and promote the emergence of related economic activities that will be grafted around the TER.
In social terms, the TER will contribute to the creation of new jobs and the emergence of new vocations in the railway sector. More than 900 employees; drivers, passenger service agents and maintainers, have already been recruited and trained by the TER management.
Moreover, the TER is part of the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE), a development program initiated by President Macky Sall. It should be completed by 2035. For the moment, the road is only 36 kilometers long, but a second section is under construction. This second phase of the project is 22 km long and will link Diamniadio to the Blaise Diagne International Airport in Diass in 2023. An additional order for seven trains is already in progress, bringing the total number of TER trains to 22. A first revolution in West Africa in the field of rail transport.
