Editorial: Big Push Without Rail: A Mirage?

When President John Dramani Mahama launched the Big Push Agenda last year, he assured Ghanaians that the $10 billion (GH¢120 billion) initiative would close long-standing infrastructure gaps in roads, bridges, water systems and other essential facilities. Central to the 2025 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review, the programme promised to complete abandoned projects, revamp the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to drive self-financing projects and expand water supply for equitable access across communities.

The President described the initiative as a nationwide transformation: “From roads to hospitals, from schools to water supply, the Big Push will transform Ghana into a construction site.” To ensure timely execution, GH¢14 billion was allocated in 2025, with GH¢30 billion earmarked for 2026, and contractors assured of strict two-week payment timelines for certified works.

While the programme spans multiple sectors, roads dominate the agenda. The Dodowa-Afienya-Dawhenya and Oyibi-Appolonia-Afienya corridors are earmarked for reconstruction to improve mobility, ease congestion and attract investment in historically neglected regions.

The Chronicle notes that President Mahama also promoted railway development. At the Czech-Ghana Business Cooperation Seminar in April 9, 2025 he urged Czech investors to collaborate on tram and light rail networks for Accra and Kumasi under the Big Push. He emphasised that modern urban transport would ease city mobility and boost economic activity, especially within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

We find a glaring omission: Ghana’s railway system, long neglected, is in near collapse. Rail currently accounts for only 4% of passenger traffic and 3% of freight, with most of the original 947 km network non-operational. While the Eastern line functions, the Western line has been dormant since 2008. Narrow-gauge tracks dominate and over 60% of the system is unusable.

Railways are not a luxury, they are an economic necessity. Rehabilitation of 668 km of existing tracks to standard gauge, coupled with 3,340 km of new lines to northern regions, would reduce road congestion, lower transport costs for bulk goods and stimulate industrial and agricultural productivity.

A modern railway network would also enhance Ghana’s global competitiveness, facilitate trade via ports like Tema, create thousands of jobs and foster rural development by connecting producers to markets.

The economic argument is clear – transporting bulk commodities such as cocoa, timber and minerals by rail is cheaper, safer and more efficient than relying solely on roads.

Heavy trucks accelerate road deterioration, increase accidents and impose massive maintenance costs. Functional railways would relieve this pressure, allowing the state to redirect resources to modernisation rather than constant road repair.

We believe that while the Big Push Secretariat may transform roads and urban infrastructure, Ghana risks a transport imbalance unless rail development receives urgent attention. Roads alone cannot sustain industrialisation or decongest cities; rail is the backbone for bulk movement, logistics efficiency and regional integration.

The Chronicle fully supports the Big Push initiative but urge the government to match rhetoric with action on railways. To truly reset Ghana’s economy, infrastructure policy must be holistic, integrating roads, water, and rail. Otherwise, the vision of a modern, connected, and competitive Ghana risks remaining a mirage on paper.

Ghana cannot afford to build roads endlessly while letting its rail system rot. The time to walk the talk on railways is now, before the cost of inaction eclipses the promise of the Big Push.

 

 

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