Railways Run Only Night Passanger Services

The Ghana Railway Corporation (GRC) now runs only night passenger services on its three lines in the country.

This follows the deterioration of a number of its coaches.

Mr Joseph Abaka-Amoah, Public Relations Officer of the GRC who disclosed this in an interview, said the bad state of the coaches which are undergoing rehabilitation exercise has affected rail service on the Accra-Kumasi, Accra -Takoradi and Takoradi-Kumasi lines.

He said the GRC has obtained a loan from the German Government to repair worn out coaches which have been in service for about 15 years. He did not disclose the value of the loan.

He discounted claims that the railway service has grounded to a halt, but conceded that “ even though the normal “rail romance” is absent, the corporation runs night passenger trains and freight coaches”.

Mr Abaka-Amoah said presently 36 of the coaches are undergoing rehabilitation exercise under a first phase to put more trains into the system.

According to him, 118 coaches in various stages of deterioration will be rehabilitated under a second phase.

He said the first phase of rehabilitation is expected to be completed in October, this year.

At the moment, the corporation is working on its rail tracks, carriages and coaches to revamp the whole rail system.

Touching on the introduction of the shuttle rail service in Accra, he said, the corporation has suspended the exercise because of the on-going rehabilitation exercise.

Mr Abeka -Amoah said the suspension of passenger services in certain areas has not affected the corporation’s revenue base.

“ This is because not much is generated from running passenger services, the freight operations bring in the revenue”, he said.