The missing link in the Eastern railway line proposal

There is a fundamental missing link in the proposed Eastern Railway Line from planning, development and economic exigency as published in the Daily Graphic of December 4, 2017.

The conspicuous absence of Koforidua, the capital of the Eastern Region of Ghana, the hub of business and transit point for commuters within and outside the Eastern Region, as well as its increasing influence as a satellite community to Accra, the national capital, is a huge missing link and a strategic fault-line in the entire proposed design.

The proposed Eastern Railway Line is designed to link Tema and the Boankra Inland Port with several transit stations and extensions to Accra and Kumasi, the two largest cities in Ghana.

Koforidua is the fifth largest among the 10 regional capitals while the Koforidua-Tafo conurbation is one of the most densely populated areas in the country, having several districts and industrial establishments.

The designation of Koforidua as a major transit station on the proposed railway line will, therefore, make huge economic sense in the same way as the proposed extensions of the line to Accra and Kumasi.

The inclusion of Koforidua in the railway network will improve the economic return on investment, considering that the town holds by far the largest concentration of the population in the Eastern Region with viable commercial activities.

Railway centre

Against the background that Koforidua has been an important railway centre dating back to the last century which has served as a vital commercial linkage for traders from Ashanti and Brong Ahafo, as well as Greater Accra and Volta regions, the exclusion of Koforidua from the current scheme is fundamentally a planning flaw that needs to be urgently addressed. Such exclusion will ominously lead to a failure to take advantage of the rail network to develop the economic life of the area and serious loss of thousands of jobs in the entire catchment area contrary to the job creation aim of the government.

Koforidua is a crucial evacuation centre for vital foodstuffs and cash crops such as plantain, cassava, vegetables, cocoa and other products from Asesewa, Somanya, Begoro, Huhunya, Mangoase, Tafo to Accra and Tema, as well as a distribution centre of commercial goods to those market outlets.

The government, as a matter of urgency, has to reconsider this proposal and subject it to rigorous planning, investment and economic development parameters within the context of the entire Eastern Region and its strategic linkages to all parts of the country and beyond.

We fervently hope that the government will review and include Koforidua as a major transit station on the proposed Eastern Railway Line in order to correct what is obviously an unfortunate oversight.