The Minister of Infrastructure, Air and Land Transport, Malick Ndiaye, chaired, Wednesday September 25, the signing ceremony of a concomitance authorization, between Senter, Seter, Chemins de fer du Senegal, ICS and GCO, for the simultaneous circulation of passenger trains and freight trains from October 7.
As part of phase 1 of the TER project, the risk analysis revealed a worrying situation regarding daily traffic. The coexistence of metric trains with TER passenger trains presents risks of derailment, thus compromising the safety of passenger trains, declared Cheikh Ibrahima Ndiaye, Director General of Senter.
Since the commissioning of the Dakar TER in January 2022, and as a safety measure in a new operating environment (electrified tracks, high-speed trains), the trains of mining operators (GCO and ICS) circulating on the metric track adjacent to the standard TER tracks can no longer circulate on the “Dakar – Sébikhotane” section between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m., TER circulation times.
Anxious to make the major renovation of the meter track between Dakar and Sébikhotane profitable, SENTER, as a Rail Safety Authority, mandated CERTIFER, an independent organization specializing in the assessment of conformity to guided transport standards and regulations. . This initiative aims to remove the constraints linked to the concomitance of traffic and to optimize the use of the infrastructure.
To control the risks around the line, a safety audit was carried out. This audit aims to identify and manage the dangers linked to the meter track and the standard track, both for the safety of people and that of rail traffic.
The various signatory parties praised the minister’s responsiveness as well as his commitment to this project that they have been waiting for so long.
Speaking, the minister said he was honored to see the realization of this convention under his supervision. According to him, this demonstrates the high level of security of the national rail network.
He took advantage of the ceremony to reaffirm his commitment to developing rail traffic, in order to make the railway sector a true spearhead of the country’s economic and sustainable development.
