The Dakar–Niger Railway (French: Chemin de fer Dakar-Niger) connects Dakar, Senegal to Koulikoro, Mali.

Later construction saw a line extended to Kayes (Kayes-Plateau) from Thies where a connection was made with the Dakar–Saint-Louis railway thus giving access to the port of Dakar, allowing the transport of raw materials across the globe.

The strike was celebrated as a turning point in the anti-colonial struggle by Senegalese writer Ousmane Sembène in his 1960 novel God's Bits of Wood.

[citation needed] Transrail, a company owned by Canac-Getma (comprising the former Canadian National Railway rail consultancy subsidiary Canac and France's Getma) took over management of the line.

They reached an agreement with China Railway Construction Corp (International) to restore their respective parts of the line.

[1] Until 2015 the petit train de banlieue, a twice-daily service between Dakar and Thiès, ran on the Dakar-Niger rails.

The Train Express Regional from Dakar to Diamniadio opened in 2021 on new standard gauge tracks parallel to the route.

Nevertheless, the Senegalese government is currently working on rehabilitating the line as far as Tambacounda in order to reduce the number of trucks on the highways linking the Port of Dakar with Mali and other neighboring countries.

[21] As a first step, in June 2023 a test run was conducted between Thies and Diourbel, with a full opening of that route planned for December 2023 or January 2024.