The President of the Republic of Senegal Macky Sall proceeded to the inauguration of the Regional Express Train on Monday, December 27, 2021. Under construction since 2017, this interurban transport infrastructure project, costing €1 billion, or FCFA 650 billion, will serve the Dakar-Diamniadio axis over a distance of 108 km in a record time of exactly 10 minutes. Ministers, religious and customary authorities, as well as the entire media apparatus of the country have responded to this meeting several times postponed. The Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Disengagement, Mansour Faye, announced that the population will benefit from fifteen days of free.
The Regional Express Train is inaugurated on Monday, December 27, 2021 by Senegalese President Macky Sall. The Head of State thus launches the commercial exploitation of this jewel that will serve the axis Dakar-Diamniadio passing by Thiaroye and Rufisque. The selected fares vary between 500, 1000 and 1500 FCFA. Passengers who want to occupy the first class will pay 2500 FCFA. Macky Sall with his Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Disengagement, Mansour Faye, made the Dakar-Diamniadio trip aboard the TER because the launch ceremony is planned at the Diamniadio station. A total of 15 state-of-the-art trains will take passengers from Dakar to Diamniadio via Thiaroye and Rufisque every 10 minutes.
For the two weeks following the release of the TER, people will be able to use this means of transport free of charge, whose project was launched five years ago.
It should be noted that the TER project provoked a great debate with a strong opposition which considered the overall cost too exorbitant. Ousmane Sonko, for example, leader of the Pastef party, has long criticized this project. He considered such a waste inappropriate because the TER will not leave the Dakar region, and more than double the sum declared has been injected into this project since its launch in 2017. Moreover the opposition boycotted the ceremony of commercial release of this TER.
The populations who saw their habitats demolished for the passage of the TER also shouted everywhere to the scandal. Many lost their homes, some could not hold on and died probably because of stress and acute desolation, others had mental disorders under the glib gaze of the Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Major Works (Apix). These populations even intended to organize a demonstration on the occasion of this launch ceremony but they finally renounced this mood movement.
