This article describes the system of transport in Senegal, both public and private. This system comprises roads (both paved and unpaved), rail transport, water transport, and air transportation.

Roads

The system of roads in Senegal is extensive by

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n standards, with paved roads reaching each corner of the country and all major towns.

International highways

Dakar is the endpoint of three routes in the Trans-African Highway network. These are as follows: * Cairo-Dakar Highway which crosses the edge of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

* Dakar-Ndjamena Highway which links the countries of the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

, also called the Trans-Sahelian Highway * Dakar-Lagos Highway running along the West African coast and called by the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

(ECOWAS) the Trans–West African Coastal Highway (though ECOWAS considers this route to start in

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

). Senegal's road network links closely with those of

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

, since the shortest route between south-western districts on the one hand and west-central and north-western districts on the other is through the Gambia.

Motorways

The country currently has two ''autoroutes'': and . A third ''autoroute'', Autoroute A3, is currently being planned. Autoroute A1 runs from

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

to M'Bour via Blaise Diagne International Airport. The A1 was built via a public-private partnership between French

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

firm Eiffage (which has a majority ownership in its

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

portion), and the Senegalese government. Autoroute A2 runs from Dakar to

Touba Touba (Hassaniya Arabic: , 'Felicity'; Wolof: Tuubaa) is a city in central Senegal, part of Diourbel Region and Mbacké district. With a population of 1,120,824 in 2023, it is the second most populated Senegalese city after Dakar. It is the h ...

, via

Thiès Thiès (; ; Noon language, Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population of 391,253 in 2023. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road (Senegal), N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and Saint-Louis, ...

. The planned Autoroute A3 will run from Dakar to Saint-Louis, and will span about in length.

National roads

The most important roads in Senegal are prefixed "N" and numbered from 1 to 7: * N1:

– Mbour -

Fatick Fatick (; ; ) is a town and urban commune in Senegal, located between M'bour and Kaolack and inhabited by the Serer people. Its 2023 population was at 39,361. It is the capital of the Fatick Region and the Fatick Department. Toponymy Its n ...

- Kaolack – Tambacounda – Kidira – (

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

) * N2: Pout –

–

Louga Louga (; Wolof: Luga) is a city in northwestern Senegal. Louga is a cattle market centre, and has road and rail links with the port city of Saint-Louis to the northwest and Dakar to the southwest. The area surrounding Louga is at the northe ...

- St-Louis – Richard Toll –

Ouro Sogui Ouro Sogui or Ourossogui lies in Matam Region in eastern Senegal on the N2 and N3 roads, just south west of Matam on the River Senegal. It is an important market town and transport hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and ...

– Kidira - (

) * N3:

–

Diourbel Diourbel (; Serer language, Serer: ''Jurbel'', Wolof language, Wolof: ''Njaaréem'') is a town and urban commune in Senegal lying east of Thiès. It is known for its mosque and local peanut, groundnut industry and is the capital of the Diourbe ...

–

– Linguère –

* N4: Kaolack – ( Trans-Gambia Highway) – Bignona – Ziguinchor – (

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

) * N5: Bignona – Diouloulou – (

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

) - Sokone - Kaolack * N6: Tambacounda – Vélingara - Kolda – Ziguinchor – (

) * N7:

- Tambacounda – Niokolo-Koba –

Kédougou Kédougou ( Wolof: Keédugu) is a town in the Kédougou Region of south-eastern Senegal near the border with Mali and Guinea. It lies at an elevation of above sea level. Founded by the Malinké people, Kédougou means the "Land of Man". The t ...

–

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Regional roads

* R20, , R22 * R30, R31, * R60, R61 * R70

Major incidents

* Kaffrine bus crash (2023)

Railways

According to the

CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print ve ...

, Senegal had a total of of railways as of 2017, of which was operational, and all of which were gauge. Since then, the first phase of the

Train Express Regional Dakar-AIBD A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

(TER Dakar) has begun operations in December 2021, adding to Senegal's railway network. There are plans to add another to the TER Dakar, to connect it to Blaise Diagne International Airport. Unlike the rest of Senegal's network, the TER Dakar uses

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

. Other rail lines in Senegal include the partially-operational Dakar–Saint-Louis railway, which is used for freight, and the Dakar–Niger Railway. The Petit train de banlieue provided commuter rail service until 2016, and has since been replaced with the TER Dakar.

Maps

UN Map

Ground transport

There were an estimated of

paved road A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ho ...

s and of unpaved roads as of 1996. Dakar has a bus rapid transit (BRT) network: Sunu BRT, which currently has two routes in operation, with two more planned.

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

s (black-yellow or blue-yellow in color) are cheap, numerous and available everywhere in

. It is customary to negotiate the fare since most

meters The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

installed in the taxis are broken or missing. For travel outside Dakar,

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

is available but often unreliable and uncomfortable.

Waterways

total; on the

Senegal river The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a river in West Africa; much of its length mark ...

, and on the

Saloum The Kingdom of Saloum ( Serer: ''Saluum'' or ''Saalum'') was a Serer kingdom in present-day Senegal and parts of Gambia. The precolonial capital was the city of Kahone. Re-established in 2017, Saloum is now a non-sovereign traditional monarch ...

River.

Ports and harbours

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