(APS) – Les Grands trains du Sénégal (GTS) will offer five days of free services between Thiès and Diamniadio, starting Wednesday, we learned from its general director, Oumar Amadou Sow.
Speaking at a press conference at the Thiès railway station on Monday, Oumar Amadou Sow announced that after dry runs on Monday and Tuesday, to test its machines, its staff and the rails, “the good news , is that from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, (the company) plans to do free trials”.
“All the populations of Thiès will be able to come in the morning at 6:50 a.m., take the train, go to Diamniadio and then continue the journey to Dakar by the TER. On the way back, they can take the TER to Diamniadio, then board our trains to arrive in Thiès,” said Mr. Sow.
According to him, there will be one train per day on both the outward and return trips during this free trial period, which comes a week after the official relaunch of passenger rail traffic between Thiès and Diamniadio and the inauguration of the renovated station. of the rail city.
This free phase, he explained, aims to allow people to board the trains, to “savour” and appreciate the travel comfort they offer, compared to the road with its traffic jams and tolls. .
He also announced that GTS is working on a partnership with the TER relating to an exchange of tickets. Departing from Thiès, the passenger buys both the GTS and the TER ticket, once in Diamniadio, they will just change platforms to take the TER.
This gateway system, which operates in both directions, aims to allow customers to avoid the inconvenience linked to having to go down to the counter to buy their ticket and then get back on board.
The duration of the journey between Thiès and Diamniadio is initially set at 1 hour, but could with practice come down to “around 50 minutes”, he said. This brings the total duration of the journey between Thiès and Dakar to 1h45mn, including the 45-minute TER journey.
“We plan to start marketing on (…) the first Monday of Ramadan,” said Oumar Sow, recalling that the fares are 1000 FCFA in second class and 1500 FCFA in first.
In second class, on the combined fares of GTS and TER, it is 2500 FCFA one way and 2500 FCFA return. Or 5,000 FCFA for each round trip between Dakar and Thiès.
In first class, it costs 7,000 FCFA for a round trip thanks to this GTS-TER junction, added Oumar Amadou Sow, specifying that everyone will choose according to their budget, between these GTS fares which are subsidized by the State.
“As of Monday, with Ramadan, we plan to [make] two trips”, i.e. two outward and two return trips, “to allow those who are very early to leave at 6:50 a.m. from Thiès station”, continued the CEO from GTS. The second wave of the morning is expected at 7:50 a.m.
From Diamniadio, the first return is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., followed by the second at 5:30 p.m.
After Ramadan, the train operating company intends to increase to five round trips per day.
GTS takes into account the Thiéssois from Dakar who come to spend the weekend in Thiès to return as late as possible on Sunday at 4:30 p.m., continues Mr. Sow.
“We understood that Thiès is very close to Dakar, but to bring it closer to Dakar, we need this interconnection system between the GTS train and the TER,” he noted. An interconnection which, according to him, made one of his interlocutors say that GTS “gave meaning to the ‘R’ of TER, which had until then remained in the Dakar region”.
He underlined, among the induced effects of this revival of rail traffic between Thiès and Diamniadio, the fact of encouraging more and more people to build in Thiès to go to work in Dakar.
It is not excluded to serve tea, coffee and water on board the train, to “enhance” the journey, he said.
Physical ticketing will be required for the start-up, pending the commissioning of an application being developed by a supplier, to launch “electronic ticketing”.
The two will be used concomitantly, to deal with any eventuality, which could lead to the blocking of the activity for example.
GTS has placed around thirty of its 215 employees on the Thiès-Diamniadio axis. They are mechanics, controllers, as well as ticket sales and reception agents.
The next step for GTS is to head towards Tivaouane. “Our wish is not to stop in Thiès, but to push on to Tivaouane, which is not very far from here,” said Oumar Sow. GTS is waiting for the end of “a few adjustments” on the rails, to open a room in Tivaouane, in order to serve the Tivaouane-Thiès-Diamniadio-Dakar route.
It is also planned later to overhaul the Little Blue Train to put it on the Diourbel-Mbacké-Touba axis, but also to serve Bamako, via Tambacounda.
According to the head of the railway company, GTS, which has the prerogatives of transporting freight, passengers and logistics, intends to continue its network of the country, following a “sequencing”.
ADI/BK
