Thales and Engie have received a contract worth €225m from the Senegalese Agency for investment promotion and public works under the office of President of Senegal (APIX) to build rail systems and infrastructure for Train Express Régional (TER).
The 55km link is being built as part of the Senegalese government's Emerging Senegal restructuring plan, which was launched in 2014 to promote the country’s social and economic development.
It will be built in two phases. The first will include construction of 36km Dakar to Diamniadio line, while the 19km Diamniadio to Blaise Diagne International Airport link will be built in Phase II.
The contract covers rail signalling, power supplies for fire detection, a public address system, video surveillance, and passenger information.
Construction of the systems will begin later this year and are expected to become operational in late 2018.
Engie's subsidiary Engie Ineo and Thales will take responsibility to manage a fiber optic network for communication between trains and the command centre, as well as technical supervision of all train station equipment.
Local company CSE has been selected to provide civil and electrical engineering work on the line, in addition to installing and managing construction sites and living quarters.