Railways improves on performance
The Ghana Railway Company (GRC) posted an impressive performance in 2013 following improvement on its services.
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According to the management and staff of the company, the improved performance was a clear indication that the GRC still held prospects of contributing to the local economy.
In 2013, it hauled more than 1.032 million tonnes of manganese, representing 84 per cent of its set target of 1.2 million tonnes.
The volume raked in revenue of GH¢10 million for the company.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mrs Elena Aikins, the Head of Public Affairs at the GRC, said prospects for the railway sector were good.
She said currently the only railway lines working in the country were the Takoradi-Nsuta and the Accra-Tema, saying that was not the best.
She said the operations of the company were hampered by derailment due to poor tracks, rotten sleepers, and lack of spare parts for the over-aged locomotives.
Passenger performance
Mrs Aikins said the passenger performance on the Accra-Tema passenger service was not encouraging and attributed it to the frequent breakdown of the company’s multiple diesel units, as well as the menace of non-ticket holders.
“That notwithstanding, 971,183 passengers were carried, out of the 2,156,858 targeted for 2013,” she said.
Manganese/Bauxite
Mrs Aikins said currently the main commodity carried by the company was manganese from Nsuta to the Takoradi Port.
“If the Nsuta-Takoradi Port line could give us over a million tonnes, you can imagine what will happen if the line from Nsuta to Awaso was also working for the hauling of bauxite,” Mrs Aikins said.
She said due to the bad nature of the line from Nsuta to Awaso, there was no service at all to Awaso.
Theft and galamsey
Many of the lines, Mrs Aikins said, had been stolen by scrap dealers.
In addition, illegal miners had dug under the lines, a situation which, she said, would make it difficult to get the lines back in shape.