Dakar freight line rebuild completed

Reconstruction of the metre-gauge freight railway through the suburbs of Dakar has been successfully completed, despite the constraints imposed by new working arrangements to protect against coronavirus.

The electrified 1 435 mm gauge TER express rail link to the capital’s Blaise Diagne International Airport is being built alongside the existing Dakar – Bamako railway connecting Senegal and Mali from Dakar’s central station to a point beyond Diamniado, where the airport spur diverges. This required reconstruction of the freight tracks on a modified alignment.

Acting on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land Transport & a Better-Connected Nation, Senegal’s national agency for investment promotion and major projects APIX awarded the freight line contract to a TSO-led consortium including NGE Contracting, CIM and CDE. The two-year project required the laying of 51 km of new track, including 5 700 tonnes of rail, 86 000 sleepers,  23 turnouts and crossovers, and 150 000 tonnes of ballast.