The Ministry of Railways Development in Ghana has signed a US$ 2.2 billion build-operate-transfer concession agreement for the Eastern railway project with the Ghana European Railway Consortium (GERC) on April 4, 2019. The agreement now needs to be approved by the Cabinet and after that placed before the Parlament.

The GERC consists of 16 companies including German Havelländische Eisenbahn and Ralf Blankenbach GmbH, Austrian Voestalpine, Italian Salcef and local company Keteke Group. It is expected that the government will have a 30 percent share in the project.

The concession will be 30 years with 3 year construction period and 27 years of operation.

The funds for the project are coming from the government of Germany and will cover the technical infrastructure, electrification, stations, and rolling stock, among others.

The original railway was built between 1910 and 1923 and is virtually non-operational, due to severe dilapidation. The new 340 km Accra-Kumasi railway project will include major stations in Accra, Koforidua and Kumasi, and 30 smaller stations. There will also be a branch line from Bososo to Kyebi to the proposed bauxite mines. The line will also be linked to the inland port at Boankra located south of Kumasi.

GERC has proposed to build a double line railroad with maintenance roads and fencing on the sides to protect the rail lines.

The entire rail line will be electrified, which means electric locomotives and coaches will be used for the first time in the country.

The estimated traffic for the new and upgraded line is thought to be between 12 000 to 18 000 passengers per day with 4 million tonnes of freight per year.

GERC will also build a sleeper factory, with the expected capacity to produce over 1,000 sleepers per day.

Minister of Planning of Ghana said the Government’s policy objective for railway development was to systematically develop the overall national rail network and expand the capacity to support industrialization and economic activities across the country.