Reflections: Ghana Railways, Yesterday and Today

It was a cheering piece of news to learn that work on the development of the Western Railway Line, which is the stretch from Takoradi to Kumasi, with the branch line from Dunkwa to Awaso, will soon start.

Mrs Dzifa Ativor, the Minister of Transport, made the disclosure in Accra last week Monday at a forum to discuss the final draft report on the Western Railway Line infrastructural project.

The estimated cost of the project was put at US$1 billion dollars, according to the minister. She also said the project would include modern rail stations, terminals and ancillary facilities and offer safe, smooth and timely services.

Mrs Ativor hinted that the design would involve the renovation and remodelling of 38 stations, including the terminals, retrofitting and reconstruction of more than 200 bridges and culverts and the provision of a more realistic estimation of the cost of the construction.

She also said the preliminary designs of the project would provide a platform for a transparent and a more realistic engagement with private sector investors on the project, which would be handled under the auspices of the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA).

Yesterday
Until I heard this happy news, I had been really saddened by the sorry state of the railways in the country. It is a far cry from the 60s and 70s and even well into the 80s when the Ghana Railway Corporation was in a class of its own. I actually don’t know when the railway network collapsed in Ghana, but it appears by the close of the 90s its best days were over. It was only living on past glories, glorious days when it was one of the most popular means of transportation in the southern part of the country.

The construction of the railway lines in the Western Division started in the closing years of the 19th century i.e around 1898, while the original 304-kilometre Eastern Railway was built in 1923 by the British all for the purpose of hauling minerals and cocoa from the hinterland.

I wonder what the British colonialists, who depended on the railway to cart all our resources (timber included) to the coast for onward shipment to Britain, would be feeling in their graves today. The new rulers, unfortunately, have not been able to build on what was done more than a century ago.

The railway has contributed a lot to my personal development, and that is why I feel sad about the present state of the Ghana Railway Corporation. The railway influenced my decision to come down to Accra from Kumasi for my secondary education. And for the five years I schooled in Accra, I did not know of any other means of travelling between the two cities.

While in Kumasi last week, I decided to go to the old railway station at Adum/Kejetia to see things for myself following reports that the government was going to do something about the railway situation.

We parked in front of the main entrance to the station. It was blocked but there was a small gate which we used to enter the car park of the station. I told myself this was the good old place, spacious as it used to be and neat.

As I looked at the old clock, it brought back lots of good and fond memories of yester years. This was the place I used to sell newspapers as a schoolboy when I was 14 and early 15. Then it was a popular place for me as a vendor.

I used to sell newspapers to travellers and I made a lot of sales. This was where I first saw students returning to their various schools, especially in Accra, after holidays. I saw them hugging each other on the platform. As they entered the train, they started playing cards and singing on their way back to school.

I enjoyed the scene and I told myself I would definitely attend school in Accra and travel by train. Initially, I had planned to attend one of the schools in Cape Coast: Adisadel, St Augustine’s or Mfantsipim.

To travel to Cape Coast, one had to go by road. The Cape Coast station was at nearby Dunkirk, not far from the railway station. At that time, people used to travel to Cape Coast in wooden trucks, known as “bone shakers,” Passengers were crammed into these trucks and there was no room to reach out to friends with whom one was travelling.

Dunkirk was also a popular spot where I used to sell newspapers, but the scene at the railway station forever shifted my focus from Cape Coast to Accra. Moreover, going to Accra, the capital, for my secondary school education will also have its advantages, I thought and may be rightly so.

Today
So my visit to the Kumasi Railway station last week was to find out if indeed it was true the railway network was going to be revamped. I have recently been crossing the railway line which connects Kumasi to Accra at various points in Kumasi and I have been wondering if we shall ever see the train moving from Kumasi to Accra.

The railway line is only about 200 metres from my house at Allabar. On many occasions I walk down to buy a few things on the line or cross over to the central market. The railway line has been taken over by traders who sell all sorts of things. Erosion has eaten away most of the railway sleepers, leaving only the metal rails hanging.

Anytime I see this deterioration, I wonder whether the young will ever see the passenger or goods train leaving for Accra or coming into Kumasi. In the good old days, some of the trains will make a temporary stop at Allabar to get clearance from the main station, only about 500 metres away. The adventurous ones among us would go and climb the train for the final lap to the railway station before returning home on foot.

After visiting the railway station last week, a gentleman approached us as we were leaving the station to find out if he could be of help. I asked him if he was the security man and he answered in the affirmative. I then asked him what the station was being used for. He told me that members of the railway workers union occasionally met there. He was, however, hopeful that very soon railway services would bounce back.

I looked at the man who gave his name as Kobina Baidoo and I sympathised with him, especially for all the trauma he and his colleagues who are employed by the GRC have been going through.

I then remembered that in 2010, a contract was signed to construct a railway line from Paga (near the border with Burkina Faso) to Kumasi, plus a branch from Tamale to Yendi. I don’t know what happened to that contract. To the best of my knowledge, nothing has happened in that direction since 2010.

What are left of the railways today are the shuttle services between Nsawam and Accra and Tema and, as I learnt from the security man of the Kumasi Railway station, from Kojokrom to Takoradi in the Western Region.

I can only pray that the train services between Kumasi and Accra and Takoradi are restored. My only fear is the state of the tracks on those routes. It will actually need a massive injection of dollars to make this dream a reality.

I hope the government is thinking about this.