Deputy Minister for Railways Development, Andy Appiah Kubi, has hinted the Accra-Nsawam railway line will resume operations very soon.

The Accra-Nsawam railway line had been shut down for a long time due to several government’s inabilities to rehabilitate railway line which will start operations very soon according to the sector Minister.

“Works on the Accra-Nsawam railway line is near completion, very soon the railway line will resume operations along the Accra-Nsawam route.”Andy Appiah Kubi told Kwame Tutu on Anopa Nkomo on Accra based Kingdom FM 107.7.

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In a move to refurbish the railway sector in Ghana, the Ministry of Railway Development has begun repairing grounded trains in the country using local artisans.

Andy Appiah Kubi revealed the process would have been completed but for the torrential rains that disrupted the processes but is in the verge of completion now.

The Deputy Minister said a test run would be conducted upon completion of the reconstruction work, after which a definite date for reopening of the rail line would be announced.

According to him, the railway sector was dead when government assumed office in 2016, where workers were not paid for over six months.

He gave an assurance that his outfit was working hard to fix the rail line to ease the transportation challenges commuters on Accra-Nsawam line faced.

Background

The government has committed US$500m for the Western line, and a similar sum for the first phase of the 595 km Kumasi – Paga central spine route.

Plans for a line from Tema to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso were ‘progressing steadily’, the President said, with 12 shortlisted companies invited to proceed to the next stage of the procurement process.

Land acquisition is to commence, and a strategic investor is to be selected.

The Government signed two separate contract agreements with the Chinese Government to secure one billion dollars facility to revamp Ghana’s Railways sector.

The Western and Eastern rail lines, totaling 930 km, and new lines from Tema to Akosombo, among others, would be constructed under the contracts.

The Ghana Railway Company is awaiting a safety certification from the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) to enable the company to resume operations along the Accra-Nsawam route.