Business24 Editorial: Government’s ambitious rail agenda a step in the right direction

The rail sector holds huge prospects for the nation’s social and economic aspirations given the fact that it is a fast and less costive means of transport.

Government being fully aware of the relevance of a working rail infrastructure has set out on an ambitious drive to revamp that aspect of transport to fast-track its developmental agenda.

A working rail network could have empirical results on every facet of our social and career lives. For instance, if people could have access to the easy and real-time means of rail transport, the overcrowding of our cities could be minimised and the cost of rent would also go down as more workers may want to live far from the city or their workplaces.

In the area of trade, rail has been touted as the panacea to most of the challenges facing the business community, and even more so for a port nation that does business with its landlocked counterparts.

Among the ongoing rail projects in the country currently include the Tema to Mpakadan line, which is 80 percent complete, and the Manso to Huni Valley line, for which the government signed a €500-million contract with construction company Amandi Holdings in June last year.

It is without any doubt that these investments in rail will complement other infrastructural initiatives that will help improve Ghana’s competitiveness, increase economic growth, and promote sustainable development.

We urge stakeholders in the transport sector, especially those in the rail sub-sector, and others that stand to benefit directly from a viable rail infrastructure, to work with the government on this noble cause to its expected end.