The members of the regional planning commission, town planning, housing, infrastructure and transport of the National Assembly made a visit to the railway facilities yesterday in Thiès. This visit allowed them to see the situation on the ground in order to formulate recommendations aimed at relaunching this sector in lethargy for several years.
“We are Today in Thiès, in the heart of the Senegal railways, and our message is clear: the deputies and the railway workers refuse the death of the rail. The visit of our workshops gave us an overview of the enormous potential that the railway sector conceals, a potential which gives cold sweats not to be fully exploited, “said the president of the said commission immediately. He then added: “Today, rail transport represents a relevant alternative for the movement of people and goods. Admittedly, investments are substantial, but the state must make a radical decision on this issue. We can no longer tolerate that Senegal railways are languishing in this lethargy … ”
For his part, the director general of the national company Les Chemins de Fer du Senegal (SN-CFS), Ibrahima Bâ, took this opportunity to draw up an inventory.
“This is the first time that we have welcomed deputies on our site so that they can learn about the situation of the Senegal railways and exchange with us on our projects, our current challenges and our perspectives. We have emphasized the difficulties we encounter, in particular the problems linked to the railway heritage, which we try to solve by extremely long legal paths. We hope that with the support of parliamentarians, we can find more effective solutions to these wealth problems, “he said.
“We have mentioned the need to relaunch rail operations through an ambitious development program for a modern 2,000 km of lane network, but it will take time. In the meantime, we have an existing potential that could respond to certain emergencies, especially on our roads where accidents are numerous. A restart of the railroad could truly relieve part of the population, “he concluded.
