COMPUTERISED TRAINS COMING TO GHANA

Accra is to be launched into the modern rail transport system with the planned introduction of mono-rail coaches in the next five years.

Feasibility studies for the 1.5 billion dollar project start next month to be completed in 2011 followed immediately with the construction of rail tracks.

Mono rail is a single nine-coach high speed computarised train without a driver.

It has a capacity of 1,500 passengers.

The privately funded project is to be undertaken by the Intercontinental Development Corportion (IDC) of the United States of America.

At a press briefing on the project in Accra yesterday IDC specialist and Transportation Engineer Rom Watson said the project will substantially ease traffic congestion in the city and make the environment cleaner since the train uses electricity.

He said each monorail will run 20 hours daily with over 700,000 rides per day using 28 trains. Time between trains can be as low as three to nine minutes depending on passengers on board.

Dr Watson said that under the implementation phase of the project, an eight mile rail line will be constructed from the Osu Oxford Street to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle along which there will be 16 stations.

Other rail routes in the city will be constructed in subsequent phases as well as hotels, conference centres, bypass stands to glide over congested streets among other facilities.

He said the construction stage of the project will create 15,000 jobs in addition to 1,000 full time employees.

Dr Watson said a Memorandum of Understanding on the project was signed with the previous administration in 2008 and was optimistic that the mutual co-operation would be continued under the present government for the fulfillment of the project.

The President of IDC, E.J. Miller commended the government for opening its doors to the company and was also optimistic that the project would yield the desired results.