Inside story of how Ghana’s new train got involved in accident on a test run

According to him, the train hit a Kia truck that was parked on the railway but said there were no casualties.

Earlier this month, the first batch of trains assembled in Poland arrived at the Tema Port to help make railway transportation better in the country.

The new trains are expected to begin operations by May, which meant a test run was scheduled to ascertain the readiness of the trains to serve the public.

However, earlier on Thursday, April 18, 2024, reports emerged that one of the trains has been involved in an accident during a test run on the Tema-Mpakadan railway route.

Detailing how the accident happened on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, the Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu said the accident happened at around 12:15pm while approaching kilometer 76 from Tema.

He explained that by the time the train driver saw that the Kia truck was parked on the railway, it was too late to halt the train.

“Today, unfortunately, around 12:15pm, the Ministry in collaboration with our foreign engineers and the Ghana Railway Development Authority conducted a test run from kilometer zero which is at the workshop in Tema towards kilometer 98 at Mpakadan,” Mr. Amewu said.

“On approaching kilometer 76, [there was] a Kia truck parked right across the rail line, you know, stationary. As the train approached, the driver tried to apply the static state to enable the train to halt. But because it was very close to the Kia truck, it was unable to and therefore run straight into it.”

The Minister further explained that aside from the damage to the front of the train, there were no further issues, adding that engineers are currently working on fixing the train.

“The engineers are currently working on it. The train has been brought back to the workshop. The Kia driver himself has reported himself to the police station, but the conduct of the driver as of now cannot be well explained,” the Minister said.

“And the good thing is that all the passengers and the inspectors on board the train, none of them got injured and we are currently in the process of assessing the damage to the train. Technically, I would say the train is still in very good form. Nothing in terms of electrical or the engine has been affected, except the front that got slightly damaged.

“The Polish engineers who were assembling the train are in charge and expected to be handed over to government. The government had not yet taken complete ownership of the train. So we are hoping that the insurance company will work on it as quickly as possible for us to put the train back on the line.”

In total, Ghana is expected to receive 12 state-of-the-art trains from Poland to help boost railway transportation in the country.