DAKAR, Dec 30 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — After five years and several false starts, the Dakar Regional Express Train was on Dec 27 opened to passengers.
The first train took off at 2.15 pm for the inaugural trip between Dakar and Diaminiado. Though it had been initially announced that the 35 kilometer route would take 20 minutes, it took an hour and fifteen minutes to reach its destination.
With a frequency of 6 trains per hour and a speed of 16 km/h, the TER will initially serve 13 stations between Dakar and the new town of Diamniadio.
With a total of 565 seats, tickets range between 500 and 2500 CFA francs (0.86-4.31 dollars).
The state-owned railway line part of President Macky Sall’s plan to revamp the nation’s infrastructure by 2035.
In a tweet, the Senegalese president said, “This December 27, 2021 marks a historic step in our collective march towards an emerging Senegal. A new dawn is dawning on our dear country.”
The trains will transport 115,000 passengers per day aiming at reducing vehicular congestion in the city.
The 1.3 billion commuter railway will link up with express buses, which will operate on reserved lanes on a toll highway that has been in operation for a decade.
Ahead of Monday’s inauguration, thousands of residents in Darkar threatened to disrupt the inauguration claiming they have not been properly compensated for homes and businesses that were demolished to make way for the project.
Yatma Dieye of Apix said “98.8 percent of people affected by the project have been compensated.”
“Payments began in February 2017. Everything was transparent and done according to international standards,” he said.
The government says that almost everyone who is owed compensation has received it but accepts that some resettlements have not yet happened. — NNN-AFRICANEWS
