Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi, the Deputy Minister of Railways Development, says the feasibility studies for Ghana’s first sky trains will be done in a year’s time and hopefully work would begin in three to four years.

He said Government was undertaking studies for both light ground rails concurrently with that of the sky rails and that a Transaction Advisor had been secured for Accra and Kumasi, to help procure contractors for the project to execute it on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

The Deputy Minister said the sky rail platform would be constructed on the ground and lifted upwards and assured government would first pilot the sky trains in the national capital, Accra, before extending it to the other regional capitals.

Mr Appiah-Kubi said this to journalists at the sideline of the signing of the contract for Transaction Advisory Services between Governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso and Messrs TEAM Engineering of Italy and Vision Consult Limited of Ghana, the Transaction Advisors for the Ghana-Burkina Railway Inter-connectivity Project.

Sky trains are light trains that provide passenger services for some cities and often introduced to ease vehicular congestion in various cities worldwide.

Mr Appiah-Kubi said Government considered the construction of sky trains to provide inner city passenger services due to the heavy vehicular traffic in Accra adding that after successful implementation of the project in the national capital, it would be extended to the other regional capitals.

For now, we’re exploring the possibility of piloting sky trains in Accra and it will run from Adenta to the Central Business District or Nkrumah Circle, and if it proves viable, we will then extend it to Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi,” Mr Appiah-Kubi assured.

Meanwhile, 12 firms out of 16 have been shortlisted for meeting the minimum evaluation criteria to construct the Ghana-Burkina Faso Railway Inter-connectivity Project.

The Transaction Advisors for the Project and the Joint Committee of Experts from the two countries had been tasked to select the winner by the first quarter of 2019.

The private investor that would be selected is expected to construct more than 1,000 kilometres standard gauge rail line from Tema to Ouagadougou on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis and expected to complete it within four years.