President Nana Akufo-Addo will be commissioning the 97 kilometre railway line from Tema to Mpakadan by March 2024 when the newly acquired trains arrive in the country.

According to the Ghana Railway Development Authority, the two new coaches will be used purposely as passenger trains to aid transportation from the port of Tema to the northern parts of the country and the Volta region.

Speaking to Joy Business, Assistant Manager in charge of Corporate Affairs at the Ghana Railway Development Authority, Nana Ama Opoku said work on the line is completed and ready to use.

“We are expecting the President to commission the new railway line from Tema to Mpakadan, near Akosombo for the new coaches that will arrive.

This is one of the largest standard gauge lines constructed in the country and the new trains have been manufactured purposely for the lines.

Although, they are all from the same manufacturer the first one will arrive by the end of March 2024 whilst the second one comes in around October 2024.

“These are passenger modern coaches with a capacity of almost 200 and a speed of 120 kilometres. So you can imagine how fast it will be on the road. We believe that this will be a form of tourism for some people as soon as it begins operation on the lines”, Nana Ama Opku pointed out.

The Tema to Mpakadan line is part of the intra-African railway connectivity system being executed from Ghana to Burkina Faso with support from the African Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of India.

The government of Ghana is also exploring other options for reconstructing the Tema Railway line from the current narrow gauge to a standard gauge to improve upon the country’s railway transportation system.