AN effective communication system provides the right impetus for the development process in any country.
Governments, therefore, spare no effort at mobilising the needed resources to update infrastructure to improve transport and communications.
The development process and economic activities lag behind in any community that fails to improve its road network, rail infrastructure, as well as the telecommunications sector.
Although it is expensive to maintain an airline, many developing countries spend a big chunk of their national resources to maintain their national airlines, if for nothing at all for purposes of national pride and prestige.
The road infrastructure in the country may not be the best but a lot is being done to update it throughout the country.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the railway sector after 52 years of our independence.
That sector, in the pre-independence era and until about the late 1970s, was in good shape and many Ghanaians, especially students, enjoyed travelling by rail.
Even people who lived outside the “triangle of the railway network” preferred connecting to a railway station in order to enjoy what was then known as the “railway romance”.
It has been the expectation of many Ghanaians that at this level of nationhood our governments would have committed enough resources to extend the railway network beyond the Ashanti Region to the northern part of the country in order to reduce our reliance on the road network.
Today, even the triangle network that was bequeathed to us by our colonial masters has collapsed. Patronage of the “skeleton” network that is left shows that Ghanaians are still interested in the rail network, except that it has lost its attraction.
Indeed, the enthusiasm that greeted the inauguration of the shuttle railway system that serves Accra-Nsawam and Accra-Asoprochona must tell policy makers that the sector is our preferred mode of transportation.
The Daily Graphic concedes that restoring the rail network to its past glory will require a major capital investment that the government cannot mobilise internally. It must also be clear to us that attempting to source the capital needed to revive the sector from the international market may be a Herculean task.
However, the announcement by the Minister of Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, that rehabilitation work is to begin on the Western railway upon the release of GH¢2 million by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is quite refreshing.
The short-term minimum intervention is to resume the haulage of bulk goods such as bauxite and manganese to generate revenue for the Ghana Railway Company.
We urge the government to pursue the vision of arresting the decay in the railway sector in order to make it a key partner in the national reconstruction effort.
There are many economic initiatives currently underway, such as the Boankra Inland Port project and the reliance on the Takoradi and Tema ports by our landlocked neighbours, that make the revival of the railway sector a worthwhile investment.
The Daily Graphic thinks that many good things will inure to the country if the sector is revived to play its role in national development.
Rail transport all over the world is faster, cheaper and safer than any other means of transportation.
Many countries that are aware of this potential exploit it to the full. If revived in Ghana, it will not only be found to be cheaper and safer but also help to prolong the lifespan of our road network, reduce petrol consumption by vehicles and reduce traffic jams, particularly in the cities.
It has become imperative for the country to find the resources to revive the railway sector now.
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