Senegal Launches New Commuter Train

A step to major development and beautification!

In a bid to boost the transportation system in Senegal, the Senegalese government has today commissioned a new commuter railway line that will transport over 100,000 commuters/passengers per day. A project which lasted for five years, anxious and nail-biting citizens who had patiently waited to get a feel of it, was in awe of this newfound ascension to development.

The transport system is poised to reduce the hectic journeying times met by citizens, and also aid in the decongestion of the city.

 

The general manager for SETR, the Train Express Regional Dakar-AIBD (TER) operating company, Frédéric Bardenet explained only a selected group will be allowed to use the train when operation begins….”We will transport all the school children on the line, as well, sports and cultural associations”.

Traveling up to 160 kilometers per hour, the trains will ply the 36-kilometer route between Dakar and the newborn city of Diamniadio in about 20 minutes. The trains will transport 115,000 people per day, a suitable replacement for the difficult trend of public vehicles congestion.

Frédéric Bardenet further prescribed, “I know that in Dakar there is this controversy about the TER being behind schedule, but this is not the case, we are almost breaking world records, in terms of completion of this project”.

SETR will use 15 four-car, dual-mode trains with diesel and electric power, but the French company Alstom.

Official figures state traffic jams cost the city a whopping amount of $172 million per year. With the TER, stations will connect both express buses, which will operate on reserved lanes.