Tema-Mpakan railway line to be completed by March 2022
Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the contractor working on the 97 kilometers Tema-Mpakadan railway line, has promised that the project will be substantially completed by the end of March this year.
According to Executive Director for Operations, Ahkil Gupta, it will take an additional three months after the substantial completion to get all finishing touches done.
“We have achieved a progress of about 92%, most of the activities have been completed, and we are very confident that the project will be completed substantially by 31st March,” he stated.
“As part of this project particularly because of the very typical and challenging geological conditions that we have encountered here, all the major pipes have been completed on the project and our team is very confident that we will be able to complete the bridge and all others by 31st March,” he added.
Minister of Railway Development, John Peter Amewu, has revealed that construction works on the 97 kilometers Tema- Mpakandan railway lines are almost completed.
He added that the Ministry is set to put the first two diesel multiple train unit on the railway line by the end of April.
The trains which are expected on the newly constructed railway line will operate as a passenger service from Tema to Mpakadan behind Akosombo.
This is a major move by government to ensure that the entire Ghana-Burkina Faso railway project is materialized.
“We expect that by April we should be able to order some diesel multiple units and we expect that by April we should be able to put them on the section from Tema to Mpakadan at least for the purpose of carrying passengers for now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister added that government will soon begin the construction of a new railway line from Accra to Nsawam.
He said the old Accra-Nsawam line would be developed into a standard gauge to make it more robust, firm, and safe for transportation.
The Minister, who said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after inaugurating a 10-member governing board appointed by the President for the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), said the Ministry of Finance was facilitating a timesheet on the project with an Indian construction company called PEC Limited.
“There are sub-stations on the railway line that we are still having problems with because of some culverts and that is not good. But we are trying to fix it within this first quarter of 2022 to start moving passengers,” he said.
Mr Amewu reminded the Board of their role and mandate in providing policy direction to ensure that the GRCL turned around its fortunes to become one of the most profitable entities of government as was the case decades ago.
“What I do not expect from the Board is for it to be involved in the day-to-day operations and management of the company,” he cautioned and entreated it to work hard, be committed and focus, while expressing confidence in the experiences and expertise of the members.
Mr Daniel Adzogble, the Chairman of the Board, said members did not see the appointment as a job but a mission to create new fortunes for the country, chart new paths and attain more resources for the nation.
