The hike in fuel prices and transportation costs has been taking a huge toll on Ghanaians for the past weeks. The situation gets worse daily and there is little hope for a recovery from the current economic crisis facing the country. Thinking about buying fuel or boarding public transport has become a nightmare for the ordinary Ghanaian.
Petrol and diesel are currently being dispensed at an average of ¢18 and ¢23 per litre which hitherto was selling at ¢15 and ¢19 per litre respectively. This has led some people to find other alternatives for transportation to combat the exorbitant transportation costs.
According to the Ghana Railway Company Limited, the situation has positively impacted their business as demand for their services has increased considerably. Energy analysts foresee a dire situation for Ghanaians since they anticipate an additional increase in the upcoming pricing window.
The Ghana Railway Company reports that just during the previous week, their number of passengers had doubled. Public Relations Officer of the company Roy Brown, in an interview with JoyNews on Thursday, said that customer demand was at an all-time high as they had been experiencing an overflow of customers. He furthered that with an erstwhile train capacity of about 335 persons, there has been an influx of 382 persons within the last two days and therefore anticipates that the Accra service will be equipped with more coaches. To run the same service, he stated that the government is eager to provide more trains to the stations. The Ghana Railway Company Limited currently has three major branch lines; two on the Western Line and the other on the Central Line.
In the interim, the government is negotiating with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to obtain less expensive petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. The negotiation is being led by the National Petroleum Authority’s boss, Perry Okudzeto, the Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, and Edwin Provencal, Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage.
The train service is considered a more affordable and faster means of transportation compared to others. Some also prefer it because they do not have to worry about the menace of traffic on our roads. Ghanaians looking forward to saving money in these hard economic times should consider boarding the train. If you have never been on a train, this may be your perfect opportunity. The government may help ameliorate the plight of many Ghanaians by maintaining the railways and train stations across the country as well as providing more personnel for effective operations.
Priscilla Fumadorh
Priscilla is an entrepreneur and a creative communicator who loves to communicate through writing. She is passionate about national economic issues and does not miss a chance to offer her opinions on them for the good of the country.
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