RAILWAY transport plays a significant role in the transport system of a country because the development of trade, industry and commerce largely depends on the efficiency of the rail road.
Other advantages of an effective rail transport in any economy include the facilitation of long distance travel and transporting of bulky goods that cannot easily be transported by motor vehicles; the transporting of goods with speed and certainty and the quick movement of goods from one place to another at a time of emergencies like famine and scarcity.
Additionally, the railway is believed to be one of the safest forms of transport. The chances of accidents and breakdown of railways are minimal as compared to other modes of transport. Moreover, it helps in the management of road traffic.
The carriage capacity of the railways is extremely large. Its capacity is elastic, which can easily be increased by adding more wagons.
Simply put, rail transport is a national necessity because in any national economy, it has its specific and irreplaceable position.
Over the years, however, we have watched in silence as this important national asset hit one crisis after another and virtually sank into oblivion.
Problems of mismanagement, the lack of a national development agenda and the hurry to undo the work of previous governments for political advantage all combined to derail the Seven-year Development Plan by our first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, under which extensions of the rail system from Awaso to Sunyani and from Shai Hills to Akosombo had been planned.
So today, about 53 years after Nkrumah boldly declared that “the black man is capable of managing his own affairs”, the reverse is our lot by way of a collapsed rail system, a collapsed airline, a collapsed Black Star Line and many other mismanaged institutions.
Thankfully, all that would soon change for the better. A ray of hope that emerged during the previous administration by way of work begun on the rehabilitation of the rail network was yesterday illuminated with the inauguration of a $23-million diesel engine train with the capacity to carry 600 passengers on an expanded Accra-Tema rail network.
President J. E. A. Mills, who performed the ceremony, used the occasion to assure Ghanaians that the railway sector would receive a major boost during the next two years to link various parts of the country, especially the rural communities, from where foodstuffs, mineral ore and cash crops could be transported to urban communities and the ports for export.
He said the complete overhaul of the country’s infrastructural network, especially the rail sector, was uppermost in the scheme of activities of the government during its tenure of office, adding that “we promise to work assiduously in actualising that objective".
The DAILY GRAPHIC shares the President’s vision and it must not die, no matter the circumstances. The fact is there are enormous challenges but the opportunities also exist in the railway system and we all have a duty to ensure that the dream is translated into reality.
Nations such as Germany, China, India, UK, USA, Switzerland and Spain saw remarkable improvements in the lives of their people, their economic development and the social reconstruction of their nations with the effective utilisation of the railway system as a major means of transport.
The Indian railway system, which today is the largest in Asia and ranks second in the world, had a modest beginning in April 1853, when the first train journeyed from Bombay to Thane — a total of 35 kilometres.
Let us be inspired by India’s laudable achievement by working assiduously to ensure improvement of the rail sector in no small measure, thereby reducing pressure on the country’s roads while boosting the economy.
All developed and stable economies have had to build very good railway systems and Ghana cannot be an exception. We dare not fail.
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