A deliberate move by a Kia Driver to pack his vehicle across the Tema to Mpakadan Railway line in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region on Thursday afternoon caused the new train to crash into it during a test run on the railway route.
The New train that was brought in by the Akufo-Addo-led government recently for the Tema-Mpakadan line on Thursday was involved in an accident while on a test drive.
The Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu speaking on the issue explained that the driver of the Kia truck, responsible for the mishap, has voluntarily presented himself to the police for questioning.
According to him, “The engineers are currently working on it. The train has been brought back to the workshop. The Kia driver himself has reported himself to the police station, but the conduct of the driver as of now cannot be well”.
He added, “And the good thing is that all the passengers and the inspectors on board the train, none of them got injured and we are currently in the process of assessing the damage to the train.”
Speaking on Citi FM, the Minister stated that there were no injuries reported in the accident, despite the train colliding with a parked Kia truck along the railway tracks, adding that the impact caused some damage to the train’s frontal area.
The Minister further explained that passengers and inspectors were onboard the train at the time of the accident.
He said that the train remains in good technical condition overall, adding that the train’s electrical and engine systems were unaffected, with only slight damage to the front.
The new train assembled in Poland by the Polish company Pesa was delivered as the first diesel train to Ghana in early April 2024 to be used on the new Tema-Mpakadan standard-gauge railway line.
It will transport passengers from Mpakadan through Kpong, Juapong, and Doryumu to Tema port and then the passengers can switch from the standard-gauge line to a narrow-gauge line to take them to the heart of Accra.
The Tema-Mpakadan railway line is a 97 km standard-gauge railroad constructed from Tema to Mpakadan to facilitate the movement of goods and people along the Eastern corridor of Ghana.
It complements and forms part of the multi-transport system from the Tema port to the southern part of Ghana and the inland port in the northern part of Ghana.
The development of that railway line is about 98 per cent complete and it will be completed in 2024.
The line is part of a planned 1000 km Ghana-Burkina Faso interconnectivity project, which will connect Ouagadougou to the Port in Tema.
It was designed to operate seamlessly on both regional and long-distance lines and is expected in Ghana by the middle of March 2024.
-BY Daniel Bampoe