The concession agreement
for the construction of the Accra Sky Train Project has been signed on the
sidelines of the ongoing African Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The signing of the agreement means feasibility studies,
spanning a period of nine months to determine the bankability of the project
will commence, with the investors assuring that the first station for the Accra
Sky Train project will be opened in 9 months.
At the signing ceremony on Monday, November 11, President
Akufo-Addo described it as “a happy day for Ghana and her good people”, adding
that it is a “critical step towards the consummation of this project”, and a
vivid testimony of the value of the African Investment Forum.
The President thanked the SkyTrain Consortium for putting
together the wherewithal that is allowing this project to go forward.
The Accra Sky Train, according to him, “is meeting an
important infrastructural need, and hopefully the step that is being taken
today, that is signing the concession agreement, is bringing the project to
much nearer conclusion. That is what we are hoping for so that the people of
Ghana benefit from the progress and the relief that a modern system of transport
in our capital city is going to bring.”
SkyTrain systems are pre-fabricated using precision moulded,
pre-stressed reinforced concrete components that are capable of being installed
at a very rapid rate, meaning that there is minimal disruption and congestion
in the urban area that is undergoing installation and commissioning.
The proposed SkyTrain initiative in Accra provides for the
development of five routes, four of which are comprised of radial routes that
originate at the proposed SkyTrain Terminal, at the heart of Accra, at a newly
developed Kwame Nkrumah circle, and one (1) route that provides and intra-city
commuter loop distribution service, also emanating from Circle.
The Project envisages a total track length across all routes
of 194 kilometres.
Source: Ghana web