Government has stated its commitment to revamp the ailing railway system in order to enhance economic activity, stating that it will be carried out in two phases. The immediate to medium-term will see the completion of the on-going Accra-Tema railline which has so far been completed to Asoprochona, leaving the Asoprochona stretch to the Tema port to be completed by July this year. B&FT has been informed that the extension of the suburban rail lines will cover the Accra-Winneba, Achimota and Nsawam lines, all earmarked as part of the immediate to medium-term phase. The Ministry of Transport has indicated its intention to involving the private sector to come on board to develop lines where there are none, and the Ministry is currently studying various proposals before it to realise that objective. For the long-term, a feasibility study is being undertaken to extend the on-going rehabilitation of the western line to the northern part of the country, right up to Paga along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border. More than US$2 billion is to be injected into the rail transport system to facilitate the movement of goods along the Accra-Koforidua-Kumasi rail line, which is one of the busiest rails in the country. Funded by the African Railway company, the project is expected to be implemented this year. Ghana Railways came into existence in 1903, when the colonialists built the first lines in the then Gold Coast to convey heavy equipment from Takoradi Harbour to the mines in the Tarkwa area of the Western Region. The country’s railway system has not witnessed any major overhaul since the colonial era, but the Kufuor-led administration sought a private public partnership to overhaul and extend the existing rail line to Paga along the Ghana-Burkina border to enhance economic activity. Source: BFT