Commercial train services finally begins!
After seven days of running free passenger services on the Takoradi-Tarkwa rail line, the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL) says commercial services on the line will begin on Monday, 10th February 2020. The services will be available only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the company has revealed.
According to the GRCL, it arrived at this decision after it successfully ran the free passenger services for four (4) continuous days on the Takoradi-Tarkwa line without any incident. This was contained in a press statement released today to announce the decision.
The Company stated that the first three days free services they run were challenged by some minor teething problems that were quickly worked with, paving way for the four-day extension it gave, from the 3rd to 7th February 2020. Per the statement signed by the Acting Managing Director of the Company, Mr. John Essel, the GRCL is satisfied with the condition of the line, locomotives and coaches, hence the decision.
“As a result of this and the public enthusiasm shown during the three (3) days, the service was extended for one more week from 3rd to 7th February, 2020, with the intention of addressing any other teething problems which might have arisen. Having offered the service for four (4) days running, we wish to inform the General Public that, no incident has been recorded.
“We are satisfied with the condition of the line, locomotives and coaches, and therefore commercial service is scheduled to run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting from Monday, 10thth February, 2020,” the statement said.
The GRCL reiterated its earlier caution that there will be times when they have to stop operations to allow the contractor working on the construction of a new standard gauge line to continue its work.
“We wish to also indicate that currently on the Western Line, a new standard gauge Railway Line is being developed alongside the existing railway line and occasionally there will be the need for GRCL to stop operations to enable this contractor to do some critical works on the new line. The general public will be informed when such issues arise,” the statement concluded.
Story by: Samuel Kojo Brace/Skyy Power FM/Takoradi
