The Minister of Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has assured that the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line will be operationalised in the coming days.
Former President Akufo-Addo officially commissioned the 97-kilometer Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line, a transformative infrastructure project set to revolutionise Ghana’s transportation sector.
The commissioning ceremony, which took place at the Tema Harbour on November 22, 2024, marked the opening of Ghana’s first standard-gauge railway.
The project, valued at $447 million, was funded through a credit facility from the India Exim Bank.
Despite the official commissioning, the project has faced delays, with some portions still not fully completed.
Speaking on the state of the project on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Mr. Nikpe emphasised the significance of making the railway operational. However, he revealed that the project lacked terminals and ports, which are essential for the efficient movement of goods and passengers.
The Minister assured that engineers have been dispatched to fix technical issues on the rail line and tracking has been done to ensure its readiness for operation.
According to Mr. Nikpe, although the original timeline aimed for operationalisation by mid-April, technical issues caused a slight delay. He stated that the necessary corrections have now been made and the train is fully fixed.
“It’s always a good idea to have a rail system working and operating effectively. The previous government engaged contractors to fix the rail between Tema and Mpakadan, which was in a way completed but not fully completed because there was no terminal at Mpakadan. There’s no port at Mpakadan, and the rail line needs two ports and two terminals where you can have passengers either embark or disembark, and where you can do your cargo. That is one of the challenges with the Tema-Mpakadan railway,” Mr. Nikpe explained.
He continued, “But since we took office, we’ve sent our engineers—there were some problems on the rail line, we’ve fixed them, and within these few days, we are going to operationalise it. We’ve gone to the site, done the tracking, followed the rail lines to the end, and we’ve replaced all the trucks that were removed. So, you’ll soon hear from us when we operationalise it. We were originally looking at the 14th of this month, but we’ve had some technical issues, so I’ve asked them to fix them. The train is fully fixed and it’s the one we are going to use.”
Source: Ghana/StarrFM 103.5FM/Hamdiya Mohammed
