‘Keteke’ the sleeper - A plane on rails

If there is any legacy from the colonial masters that most Ghanaians would want to hold on to and see developed to enviable heights, it is rail transport.

Rail transport was developed to play a significant role in the socio-economic development of both the pre and post-independence era, serving as a cheaper, convenient and safer way of transporting both goods and travellers to their destinations on the rail routes.

In commemoration of the 63rd Independence Anniversary celebration, people have been reminiscing about the past and have talked about the positives they would love to have back, and rail transport has featured strongly.

People who were privileged to have had a rail travel experience are backing the revival of that means of transport, saying it was ‘safe, reliable and convenient’ at a time when road transport has its attendant challenges of ‘ highway robbery and more worryingly, accidents, some of which end up being fatal.’

Reliving some of their experiences on their travel by rail at night, referred to as the ‘sleeper services’, some travellers and staff of the railway service recounted with nostalgia, those times that they had to travel at night by train, either from Accra to Takoradi or Accra to Kumasi or Kumasi to Takoradi.

“If there is anything that I want to see being revived and revamped, it is the rail transport.

Having experienced it as a young person and having watched how other countries have developed it to turn it into such a reliable efficient means of transport, I wonder how such a potentially profit sector could be allowed to go on its knees to the point of even collapsing,” Nana Kwabena Afari, a retired public servant who used to travel frequently between Accra and Kumasi, told the Daily Graphic.

Keteke

Ghana's railway network dates back to 1898 when it was the main means of haulage for minerals, foodstuffs and raw materials from the mines and the hinterlands to the ports and city centres, as well as the means of transport to parts of the country.

The success and convenience of that sector saw it being expanded to include public transport and by 1961, there were daily passenger train services on the triangular inter-city routes of Accra-Kumasi-Takoradi line and a night sleeper service between Takoradi and Kumasi, and Accra-Kumasi.

In no time, it had been given a local name, ‘Keteke’ and its day service was the regular service with the trains making stops at various halts and carrying more of traders who brought their wares, mostly foodstuff, from inland to Accra and Takoradi for business.

The sleeper was more for night travellers and it enjoyed great patronage from those who wanted to return to their homes after business during the day or had to be at another place for an important assignment.

The sleeper, which had first, second class and cargo coaches, usually departed at 9.00p.m. and arrived at 5.00a.m., a good time for commuters to finish their day’s engagement and travel or arrive in good time for the day’s activities.

It was also well patronised by public servants who had been transferred and had to travel back home to visit their families.

Experiences

“I hope that I will get the opportunity to travel by train again in my lifetime. I travelled by it in the late 1980s and early 1990s from Accra to Kumasi and Kumasi to Takoradi. It was one of the best means of travelling, particularly, during the night.

“The coaches had two-bed or four-bed cabins with toilets and provided some comfort for sleep throughout the night and thus you arrived at your destination well rested in the morning,” Nana Kwarteng recounted to the Daily Graphic.

Madam Afua Konadu, a retired educationist who in the 1960s lived in Juaso, said an opportunity to travel from Kumasi to Accra was one she looked forward to as “all one needed was to get the ticket in advance, go about the day’s work and then catch the train from Kumasi to Accra. It was more comfortable than the ‘rickety Neoplan buses we named ‘watonkyene’ that we had to travel on if we decided to go by road.

“When I began working and came to live in Accra, I still preferred the sleeper to the State Transport Corporation bus because of the comfort, convenience and the cost it afforded me.

“We watched in movies how the western world used their trains as a means of transport and I was proud that we also have that service in Ghana, but sadly, like most of the good things we had that could have gained more from, we watched our rail transport system collapse.

“I hope the efforts to get the sector revived will be done in good time so that at least, I can take my grandchildren on a long trip from Accra to Kumasi, for them to also experience it as I have always told them stories about how I learnt about the names of towns and villages from Accra to Kumasi through my train trips,” Madam Konadu, now 70 years, narrated the memories, bringing a smile to her face.

Efficient alternative transport

Mr Theophilus Nyarko-Mensah who lives in Tema and commutes to Accra daily, said the train shuttle was his best means of transport in the face of the frustrating traffic one encountered on the road.

“It is the most convenient and effective means of transport and I hope the services can be retained as obviously, the traffic on the roads will get worse as more people move to live on the outskirts of the main city.

“Most of them are middle class and because the public transport system is not convenient and efficient, those who can afford are compelled to drive.

If the train shuttle is developed and enhanced, I think it will serve a need as well as solve a problem.

That for me will be the most important legacy any government can leave after what the colonial masters did in introducing rail transport,” Mr Nyarko-Mensah, a civil servant said.

Plane on rails

Mr Kwarteng Nketia, a driver of the sleeper, also shared some of the fond memories he had with the Daily Graphic.

“It always felt special driving the sleeper as we compared our work with that of pilots and those who worked on the aeroplane.

We travelled by night, provided comfort for our travellers and sometimes sold snacks and water on the sleeper. The only difference was that it was free on the flights.

“It was a privilege to be entrusted with the safety of travellers, particularly, during the night while they slept and send them safely to their destinations at day break,” Mr Nketia, who said he worked for 35 years for the Ghana Railway Corporation, said.

He said he was happy that the sector was being revived and revamped to even extend the rail line to the east

“There were plans to make rail transport the preferred choice for all travels to all parts of the country and we all looked forward to that day, he added.

Revamping rail transport

Sixty-three years on, the government, through the Ministry of Railway Develoment, is making significant inroads to get the sector back and has announced a partnership between South Africa’s state-owned rail and freight operator, Transnet International Holdings, which will establish its full presence in Ghana’s railway sector in the second quarter of the year.

Currently, a 22-kilometre Western rail line from Kojokrom to Eshiem and to Manso in the Mpohor District of the Western Region is ongoing.

The major railway line in the Western Railway network which is about 340km when completed, will connect the Port of Takoradi with Kumasi, branch to Awaso and extend to Nyinahini, in the Ashanti Region.

Already, services have begun for the intra-city shuttle with the Accra to Tema route, while repair works are ongoing on the Accra-Nsawam route, two routes that provided business for the rail sector even during worse times.