The Mali Railway Heritage Company announced the resumption of passenger traffic on June 9. But this is not the first time.

In this period of sovereign reconquest in the Sahel, the railway is both the symbol of revolutionary voluntarism and the means of demonstrating the functional link between the capitals and the landlocked regions. In Mali, The line that links Bamako to Kayes, 495 km northwest of the capital, is frequently mentioned.

It was the French colonial administration that made this metre-gauge section an element of the international line intended to link Senegal to Mali, then to Niger. Since 2003, on the recommendation of international financial institutions and under an agreement granted by the Council of Ministers, its operation has been granted to companies.

Arlesienne

Created by decree in March 2017, and currently manager of the Bamako-Kayes line for a period of three years, the Société de patrimoine ferroviaire du Mali (SPFM) announced the resumption of passenger traffic this Friday, June 9. It was in October 2019 that the Council of Ministers adopted an emergency plan for the revival of rail traffic, a plan that the new authorities have taken over.

Certainly, the revival of this railway line seems like a pipe dream. In February 2018, the TV5 television channel broadcast a report on the revival of the Bamako-Kayes passenger train. Traffic would be stopped the following May. Four and a half years later, it was the seneplus.com website that mentioned a "test trip" on the Bamako-Kayes route, "after several years of inactivity".

Vital character

Although the passage of trains is crucial for the development of the areas crossed, the line is struggling to be profitable, particularly if we consider the heavy investments involved in the inevitable rehabilitation work on the tracks, stations, central workshops, depots and bridges. And this is without mentioning the training of drivers, pointsmen and other clerks, as well as the acquisition of spare parts to make the locomotives more reliable.

Will this time be the right one? The Council of Ministers of March 31st examined a communication relating to the operating methods of passenger and freight rail traffic by the SPFM. The company insisted on the vital nature of rail transport and on the amount of investments made since 2019. For the future, the investment plan is estimated at 6 billion CFA francs over two years.

Damien Glez: Young Africa