Railways is a viable sector that comes with many advantages – Amewu

The Minister-designate for Railways, John Peter Amewu has highlighted some of the benefits Ghana stands to gain should it invest in the railway industry.

When asked during his vetting what the railway sector would add to the country’s development, Mr Amewu argued, among other things that the lifespan of railroads is generally longer than that of roads.

“Mr Chairman, the railway sector has its own advantage. The life span of most of our roads we witness in this country is a maximum of 11years but a railway that is well constructed can take up to 50 years.

“So the advantage is that when you put your railways sector in order, then you are going to migrate traffic from the current existing dense traffic on our roads to the railway,” he told the Appointments Committee on Wednesday

He also noted that “already, the trucks that ply on our roads are above the average load but because they do not have any alternative means of transport, they are forced to use the roads. And that is why most of our roads after a few years are in a very deplorable state.”

The Hoehoe MP also indicated that the railway also increases productivity, thereby, boosting the economic growth of the country.

“One great advantage of the railways is that a large number of people and goods can be moved at the same time. For instance, the high-speed train that the country is trying to introduce is going to run at a speed of 160 km/h. That means people will get to their destination on time and productivity will increase.

“Even if you sit in a train, you can confidently conduct your business in it so people can work in the train because of the stability and the angles at which it travels,” he added.

Moreover, the Minister-designate indicated that the railway sector must be considered more as a social project than an investment if the country wants to see it develop.

According to him, investors will not invest in a project that will take close to 50 years for them to reap its profits, as such, it must be seen as a social infrastructure that will equally contribute to the development of the country.