The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA), Dr. Frederick Appoh, has expressed optimism that Ghana’s railway sector can be revived to its former glory if the government and stakeholders commit adequate resources and strengthen institutional capacity.

Speaking at the German Embassy–JoyNews Climate Talks in Accra on the theme “Sustainable Mobility for Ghana: Unlocking the Potential of Railway Transport,” Dr. Appoh acknowledged that the once-vibrant railway network has largely collapsed due to decades of neglect, poor maintenance culture, and weak institutional systems.

"If there's a resource, they [government] fuel the company with a lot of resources as the infrastructure, they will restock and everything, I think we'll be able to operate as usual," he stated.

Dr. Appoh explained that the decline of the sector was not merely technical but also financial. He recalled a period when the government supported the railway sector by covering up to 70% of its wage bill, which enabled the Authority to operate efficiently and transport key commodities like cocoa, manganese, and bauxite.

“But once that stopped, the challenges multiplied,” he lamented.