The Minister of Railways Development, John-Peter Amewu, has insisted that the train incident on the Tema-Mpakadan railway was due to the Hyundai truck driver's recklessness.

According to him, all necessary safety measures had been implemented before the trial run.

However, the distance between the train and the abandoned truck on the rail could not afford the train driver enough time to apply the brakes. 

Speaking on JoyFM’s Midday News, he said that the truck should not have been left in the middle of the rail. 

“We have this braking system that will enable the train to stop, but there's normally a distance, understand a minimum of one kilometre. But because of the curve, it couldn't get that distance.

"The driver tried to apply the brake, but it could not stop and ran straight into this vehicle. All procedures were put in place and they were fixed,” Mr Amewu said.

“The company in question have tested 300 trains this year. No accident has occurred. What was important for them to do was to make sure that the line was clear. They do the initial check by putting the maintenance vehicle 30 minutes ahead of the train.

"That was done and gave an indication that the line was free. Only for some unscrupulous person to drive and park his vehicle there, it's very, very uncalled for,” he said.

Mr Amewu’s comments come after the arrest and prosecution of the suspected driver identified as 41-year-old Abel Dzidotor.

Abel Dzidotor was convicted and sentenced on Friday, April 19, after admitting guilt to three out of the four charges levelled against him.

He was charged with inconsiderate driving and causing unlawful damage, among others.

Background

In a press statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Railways Development explained that as the train approached the curve at Km76+100, it encountered a stationary vehicle obstructing the rail track, resulting in the accident.

Read also: New Ghana train on test run involved in accident

It said despite the immediate application of the emergency braking system, the train was unable to come to a complete stop before crashing into the truck.

The Ghana Police Service later announced the arrest of the driver of the Hyundai truck with registration number GS 9018 - 20.

Read also: Police arrest truck driver alleged to have caused train crash

Preliminary investigations established that Dzidotor left the truck unattended on the railway line, leading to the collision with the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train.