Senegal is moving beyond rehabilitation of its existing railway assets towards defining a new standard-gauge network with Dakar–Tambacounda as its proposed backbone. The APS programme is significant because it will establish the alignment, capacity, engineering requirements, environmental parameters and financial case needed before the project can advance towards detailed design, financing and procurement. At this stage, however, the railway remains a proposed project under study, not a committed construction programme.
The parallel work on the TER extension to Thiès and UEMOA’s study of financing options for the wider Dakar–Tambacounda–Bamako corridor also shows that Senegal’s railway planning is increasingly being developed as part of a broader national and regional network. The next critical milestones will be completion of the APS studies, refinement of the CFAF 1.5 trillion indicative investment requirement, definition of the financing structure and confirmation of how the Dakar–Tambacounda line will interface with the TER and future regional connections.
Find out more
