APA-Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) In Burkina Faso, the passenger train resumed service after a four-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 health crisis.
There was the whistle of a train again on Friday at Ouagadougou railway station on its way to Bobo-Dioulasso, the economic capital.
According to Burkina Faso’s Minister of Transport, Roland Somda, it will initially link only the country’s two major cities, with stopovers in the towns of Koudougou, 100 km from the capital, and Siby, a trading town developed thanks to the train’s passage.
Several shopkeepers stationed at the railway station welcomed the resumption of business.
“Since the shutdown of the passenger train, our goods have been coming in through transport vehicles. We suffer a lot of losses because it takes time. But with the train, in record time you have your goods in good condition, and customers are satisfied,” Mamounata Konfe says.
As for the Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) destination, travelers will have to wait a little longer. The Ivorian authorities have not authorised the resumption of passenger train services on their territory, “on the grounds that the railway infrastructure is not in an acceptable state to allow operations.”
The resumption of services follows a series of negotiations between the Burkina Faso government and the French company Sitarail.
On the grounds of the absence of authorisation from Côte d’Ivoire, the dilapidated state of the rail works and the security situation, the French side had expressed reservations about the possibility of resuming travel in November 2023, as ordered by Burkina.
The transitional authorities have made reassurances that arrangements are being made.
They indicated that talks were continuing between Ouagadougou and Abidjan, to obtain authorisation for the resumption of travel from Côte d’Ivoire.
With regard to the poor state of the infrastructure, they maintained that additional credit had been granted for repairs to enable the passenger train to resume service.
On the subject of security, Burkina Faso said it had a national strategy to combat terrorism, and was carrying out security measures throughout the country.
SD/ac/fss/as/APA