South Africa's leading rail and port company, Transnet International Holdings, will supply 110 wagons to the Ghana Railway Company Limited by end of this year.
The South African company will also supply 22 coaches, eight locomotives and two power vans with first class kitchens to offer first class services to passengers.
This came to light when officials from the Railway Development Ministry, led by the Minister, Joe Ghartey, visited South Africa recently to familiarize themselves with the operations of Transnet International Holdings.
Mr. Ghartey was upbeat about the revival of the railway sector of the country due to the partnership.
He encouraged Ghanaians to be optimistic about government's efforts at revamping the sector.
The Minister added “with the coming on board of Transnet, the dream of revamping the ailing rail sector of Ghana will become a reality”.
He noted that the South Africans have shown an unflinching interest in the development of the rail network in Ghana.
“Transnet International Holdings and the Ghana Railway Company Limited will be collaborating on a number of interventions. They will help train our personnel, provide coaches and wagons and help maintain the rail lines in Ghana.”
Mr Ghartey told the South Africans that government of Ghana was on the path to transforming the country and railway sector.
“They control 30,000 kilometers of track. We are doing, currently, about 60 kilometers and so they have what it takes to help us,” Hon Ghartey pointed out.
The South African Rail Company recently paid a reciprocal visit to Ghana and subsequently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghana Railway Company to help find ways of revamping the rail sector of the country.
The delegation from Transnet International Holdings, led by its Programmes Director, Wilson Moaoba, also inspected rail lines from Takoradi through Awaso to Kumasi with experts from the Ministry for Railway Development.
According to Joe Ghartey, Ghana expects to operationalize the rail lines by the year 2020.
Ghana Railway School
Joe Ghartey told his guests that the Ghana Railway School at Location, near Essikado, recently signed a MoU with the George Grant University of Mines and Technology at Tarkwa to start a railway university.
He indicated that the institution would partner Transnet's School of Rail, in Pretoria, South Africa, to design curriculum and also train personnel to boost the industry.
Wilson Moaoba, leader of the team from South Africa, mentioned that they embarked on the trip to have better understanding of Ghana's Railway sector.
He indicated that his outfit has the technical capacity to resuscitate Ghana’s railway sector which would create jobs for the youth.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
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