Sénégal, Dakar – The Dakar TER Regional Express Line: TSO delivers the new freight line

For the Dakar TER regional express project, the consortium of NGE Contracting, CIM and CDE led by TSO has completed work on rebuilding the historic ‘metre-gauge’ rail freight line. The new rail link is designed to substantially improve reliability of rail traffic to and from Dakar, eliminate derailment risks and optimise the line to handle increased traffic volumes.

Acting on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land Transport and a Better-Connected Nation, APIX (Senegal’s National Agency for Investment Promotion and Major Projects) awarded the TSO-led consortium the contract to lay 51 km of new rail track in just 2 years.

To deliver this project successfully, TSO hired and trained up to 160 employees and installed:

• 86,000 sleepers
• 5,700 tonnes of rails
• 23 points and crossovers
• 150,000 tonnes of ballast

As part of the wider Dakar TER regional express project, TSO, as lead contractor for the consortium of NGE Contracting, CIM and CDE, has now completed work on rebuilding the historic metre-gauge rail freight line to improve the reliability of traffic to and from Dakar, effectively eliminating derailing risks and creating the optimum conditions required to increase traffic on the line.

The new freight line will play a major role in the future economic development of Dakar by offering a new, up-to-date, safe and efficient communication route to respond decisively to the infrastructure needs of this fast-growing region.
For this project, TSO applied an operational model proven in France and around the world to ensure high levels of performance and security.

• the majority of the work was carried out by the experienced teams of TSO using the company’s own equipment, which in addition to the standard tamping, grading and levelling machines and other locomotives, included the most advanced continuous rail welding machine in its fleet
• maintaining full control of the technical preparation work, purchasing and every link in the logistics chain made it possible to ensure continuity of supply throughout the project
• formalised processes, highly detailed preparation and follow-up, and the use of tailormade production methods and team training all contributed to guaranteeing the quality of work done and full compliance with international standards
• the spirit of entrepreneurship that drives our teams to meet the day-to-day needs of their customer and the expectations of partners and local authority representatives