Video: Work Progress On The Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line

The railway line stretching from Tema to Mpakadan is almost ready.
 
The 99-kilometer line, which costs US$230 million, is about 80 percent complete and well ahead of schedule, despite a few changes to the original plan.
 
Minister for Railways Development, Joe Ghartey is very optimistic the project when completed will ease a lot of traffic on Tema harbour roads.


 
Redesigning of project

Originally, the line should have started at Tema and ended at Akosombo, close to the hydro dam.

Per the plan, the contractors were to drill a tunnel about 60km away from the Akosombo Dam.
 
However, to avoid any unforeseen danger the construction of the project might pose to the Akosombo Dam, the route of the line was redirected to end at Mpakadan instead.

“We did not want to create a disaster and take Ghana back a hundred years if the Akosombo Dam is damaged in the process of construction so we decided to redesign, reengineer the plan and instead moved it from Tema-Akosombo to Tema-Mpakadan,” the Railways Development Minister explained.

The redesigning has necessitated the building of a 300-metre bridge over the Volta River from Senchi to Mpakadan.