Reports reaching DGN Online have confirmed that the new train that was brought in by the Akufo-Addo-led government recently for the Tema-Mpakadan line has just been involved in an accident while on a test drive somewhere in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern region.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that people have been stealing bolts on the rail line forcing the new train into an accident.
The new train assembled in Poland by the Polish company Pesa was delivered as the first diesel train to Ghana in early April 2024 to be used on the new Tema-Mpakadan standard-gauge railway line.
It will transport passengers from Mpakadan through Kpong, Juapong, and Doryumu to Tema port and then the passengers can switch from the standard-gauge line to a narrow-gauge line to take them to the heart of Accra.
The Tema-Mpakadan railway line is a 97 km standard-gauge railroad constructed from Tema to Mpakadan to facilitate the movement of goods and people along the Eastern corridor of Ghana.
It complements and forms part of the multi-transport system from the Tema port to the southern part of Ghana and the inland port in the northern part of Ghana.
The development of that railway line is about 98 per cent complete and it will be completed in 2024.
The line is part of a planned 1000 km Ghana-Burkina Faso interconnectivity project, which will connect Ouagadougou to the Port in Tema.
It was designed to operate seamlessly on both regional and long-distance lines and is expected in Ghana by the middle of March 2024.
-BY Daniel Bampoe
