Ghana’s Ministry of Railways Development announced in Accra on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 that it has signed an agreement with DongFang Electric International Corporation, a state-owned Chinese enterprise to supply the country 35 standard gauge trains.
The Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, signed the agreement amounting to an estimated amount of 243 million USD on behalf of the country with the Chinese company.
According to Daily Guide, a local newspaper, the Minister mentioned before signing the agreement with DongFang Electric International that the country will be provided with nine (9) 4,500 horse-power passenger locomotives at the speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
Also, DongFang will provide forty-eight (48) passengers locomotives, seven (7) AC-AC and eight (8) AC-DC transmission freight locomotives with a capacity of 1,500 horse-power and speed of 100 kilometers per hour, 330 freight balance and 11 shanty locomotives with a capacity of 1,000 horse-power.
In a report early this month, the minister stated his Ministry had already gotten approval of about 130 million USD to buy trains from China.
China has been investing a lot of money on infrastructure and capital projects on the continent and rail development has been one of the focus areas.
Ghana signed a 500 million USD deal with another Chinese company — China Railway Wuju Group Corporation in 2019 to continue the development of a new standard gauge western line. This line is expected to provide passenger and freight services.
Ghana’s rickety rail infrastructure has not seen any significant revamp since they were constructed in the 20th Century. The country had a rail network of 947km in 1957, less than 100km was operational in 2017.
This and other investments in the sector in recent years should be a significant boon for rail transportation in Ghana.
