Dakar–Niger Railway

Dakar-Niger Railway
Map of the Dakar–Niger Railway
Overview
Native name	Chemin de fer Dakar-Niger
Termini	Dakar, Senegal Koulikoro, Mali
Stations	Dakar, Thiès, Tambacounda, Kayes, Kita, Kati, Bamako, Koulikoro
Service
Type	Heavy rail
History
Opened	1 January 1924
Technical
Track length	1,287 km (799.70 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track between Dakar and Thiès Single track otherwise
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Operating speed	65 km/h (40 mph)
Route map Legend 1287 km Koulikoro Korofina Bamako Kati Kita Oualia Bafoulabé Diamou Kayes 646 km The Falémé River Kidira Nayé Goudiry Bala 400 km Tambacounda Koussanar Koumpentoum Koungheul Kaffrine Lydiane Kaolack Guinguinéo Gossas Touba Mbacké Diourbel Bambey Dakar-Saint-Louis railway 80 km Thiès 28 km Rufisque Petit train de banlieue 3 km Hann 0 km Dakar

The Dakar–Niger Railway (French: Chemin de fer Dakar-Niger) connects Dakar, Senegal to Koulikoro, Mali. The name refers to the Niger River, not the Republic of Niger. It serves many cities in Senegal, including Thiès, and in Mali, including Kayes, Kita, Kati, Bamako. The line covers a course of 1,287 km of which 641 km lies in Mali.

As of 2013 passenger services in Mali were only being offered three days between Bamako and Kayes via Kati and Diamou.^[1] There have been no international passenger trains in operation since 2010.

Construction work on the Dakar–Niger Railway began at the end of the 19th century under the French general Gallieni, commander of French Sudan.

The railroad connected the Niger River with the port of Dakar, allowing the transport of raw materials across the globe. The line was completed at the beginning of the 20th century, the Kayes-Koulikoro section being inaugurated in 1904. However, the final section of the line did not open until 1924.^[2]

In 1947, the railroad workers went on a several-month strike to obtain the same rights as the French railwaymen. They succeeded in winning a 20% raise, though strike leaders were jailed or fired. The strike was celebrated as a turning point in the anti-colonial struggle by Senegalese writer Ousmane Sembène in his 1960 novel God's Bits of Wood.^[2]

With the independence of Mali and Senegal, after the break-up of the Mali Federation, control of the railroad was divided between two national organisations, the Régie des Chemin de fer du Mali (RCFM) and the Régie des Chemins de Fer du Sénégal.^[3] An agreement between Senegal and Mali in 1962 determined the common operation of the line by the two railway companies.^[2]

In October 2003, Senegal and Mali privatised the railway following pressure from the World Bank. Transrail, a Franco-Canadian management consortium, took over management of the line, changing hands several times.^[4] Management issues and a lack of investment led to serious degradation of the infrastructure and rolling stock and numerous delays. In Senegal, the maximum speed of the trains in many places has been limited to 20 km/h due to the bad state of the tracks.

Despite Transrail's obligation to maintain a passenger service, they concentrated on the transport of goods. Many stations have been closed and the numbers of connections reduced, creating difficulties for isolated communities. Passenger services have been suspended since an accident on 13 May 2009 killed five and injured thirty-seven. A Dakar-bound train came off the tracks between Bala and Goudiry in Tambacounda Region, Senegal. Four carriages reportedly overturned, but no official cause was determined.^[5][4]

Transrail was bought in 2007 by the Belgian company Vecturis.^[6] With continually degrading infrastructure and mounting security problems, passenger service was halted in May 2010.^[7][2] In 2015, the governments of Mali and Senegal terminated the concession to Transrail, and a new entity, Dakar-Bamako Ferroviaire, took its place. They reached an agreement with China Railway Construction Corp (International) to restore their respective parts of the line.^[8] Without measurable progress, however, freight service was suspended in 2018, leading to a 20% drop in activity at the Port of Dakar.^[2]

Until 2015 the petit train de banlieue, a twice-daily service between Dakar and Thiès, ran on the Dakar-Niger rails, and the Train Express Regional from Dakar to Diamniadio opened in 2021 along part of the same route.^[7]

The only regular train on the Dakar-Niger route as of September 2023 is the TER. Nevertheless, the Senegalese government is currently working on rehabilitating the line as far as Tambacounda in order to reduce the number of trucks on the highways linking the Port of Dakar with Mali and other neighboring countries. An estimated 3-400 leave the port every day. In a second planned phase, a new standard gauge line to Tambacounda and eventually to Bamako will replace the current one.^[9] As a first step, in June 2023 a test run was conducted between Thies and Diourbel, with a full opening of that route planned for December 2023 or January 2024.^[10]

"Tableau comparative des exportations par rail"^[11] No sources are given for any of this data, which shows the number of tons of different products exported in various years:

• Gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
• Brakes: The railway uses vacuum brakes.^[12]
• Couplers: Buffers and Chain, European^[13] - see loco CC2286.
• Highest point 1,515 feet (462 m) near Bamako.

There are a number of branch lines including:

• Dakar–Saint-Louis railway, from Thiès to Saint-Louis
• Louga–Linguère
• Guinguinéo–Kaolack
• Diourbel–Mbaké
• Tambacounda–Baja Kunda (proposed)

• Derosier, Christian. "The Railway line of Dakar-Niger" (in French).
• Kallmann, Gavin (17 January 2009). "A slow train through Senegal". The Financial Times. London.
• "Unido". Archived from the original on 1 November 2009.
• "Information and travel advice". Seat61.com.
• Kautzor, Thomas. "A report on the situation of the line at the end of 2010".