The Nsawam-Accra shuttle train has been grounded, due to the floods which hit the nation’s capital a week ago, Ms. Naana Aikins, the Accra Area Manager of the Ghana Railway Company (GRC), has disclosed.
She told The Ghanaian Times that the floods washed away parts of the rail lines, thus making them unusable and dangerous.
The Area Manager who led a team of engineers to the site to inspect the damage, disclosed it would cost over GH¢30,000 to repair.
She said the affected rail lines were at Dome, Avenor, Achimota and Abeka, adding that the company had lost GH¢ 20,000 in revenue, due to the break in services.
“The operations of the train have been halted, it has really affected us,” she lamented.
The Area Manager assured that the situation would be remedied within the next two weeks, explaining that the operations had to be halted, to avert disaster.
“Some of the railway lines are hanging because the stones have been washed away. The train is heavy and cannot ply the lines; it will be very dangerous,” she warned.
Ms. Aikins said the management had informed the Board, and it is mobilising funds to address the situation.
She said the Tema-Accra line too was affected, but the trains had been repaired and returned to the route.
Ms. Aikins appealed to commuters to exercise restraint while efforts are made to fix the Nsawam line.
In an interview with some commuters, Madam Gladys Mensah, a trader, said the situation had really affected her business.
“We travel to Nsawam to buy foodstuff and that is the easiest and cheapest way to send the items to Accra.”
However, in view of the situation we now team up and hire vehicles to cart our goods to Accra to sell,” she stated.
A visit to the Accra railway station by this reporter showed an empty terminal.
Last Wednesday’s a torrential rains flooded parts of Accra, destroyed property and claimed more than 160 lives, especially at the Goil Filling Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
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