Polish rolling stock manufacturer PESA is reaching beyond its homeland. Not only it has secured the delivery of electric multiple units (EMUs) to Romania, but it will also export trains to Ghana in East Africa. Ghana has ordered two diesel multiple units (DMUs) with an option for 10 more.
As our Polish partner website Sektor Kolejowy reports, an event was held on 02 February 2024 at the Bydgoszcz Główna railway station, where the first unit destined for Ghana Railways was unveiled.
The unveiling was attended by dignitaries including Piotr Malepszak, the Undersecretary of State in Poland's Ministry of Infrastructure, and John Peter Amewu, Ghana's Minister of Railway Development.
The unit is based on the Regio 160 platform and visually similar to units produced for České dráhy (ČD). Apart from Africa, PESA aspires to extend its reach to markets in Asia and the Middle East, responding to interest in hydrogen-powered locomotives among other innovations.
The decision by the Ghanaian government to acquire new rather than used vehicles led to the selection of PESA for this project. A contract was signed in September 2023 with the intention to use the trains across regional and long-distance routes in Ghana. These trains, can reach speeds up to 120 km/h and accommodate up to 220 passengers.
The trains for Ghana are part of a broader initiative to improve Ghana's transport infrastructure, reflecting the country's economic growth and focus on developing its railway sector. This includes major projects like the construction of new railway lines and the modernization of the existing network to the European rail gauge standard.
Ghana Railway Development Authority claims that all 12 trains were ordered and that the first ones should be deployed on the Tema-Mpakadan lines in 2024 already.
Ghana, with a population of almost 33 million, has a 1,300 km railway network with three major branch lines with passenger service offered on all of them. The freight division mainly transports minerals, cocoa and timber. The government has an ambitious plan to build 4,000 kilometres of new railway lines in the future.
