Dissatisfied that I couldn't promote a single T-shirt within the Kantamanto second-hand clothes market, I walked a number of blocks to the railway station, a well-preserved Nineteenth-century constructing.

It was 5 o'clock on a Tuesday night in Accra, on the railway tracks, stood the massive blue prepare designated for the Accra-Tema route,

Close to the prepare, three males, donning a purple Polo shirt, emblazoned with the emblem of the Ghana Railway Company , had been chatting amongst themselves, I overheard a part of a dialog between the three conductors, 'John Dumelo go win' to which one other gave a becoming response. 'all of the college college students go vote for am’.

Dialog of this type, usually, earlier than the departure of a prepare is sure to occur .

There have been already a number of passengers sitting on the brilliant purple seats within the prepare, others had been now paying for his or her tickets, others, particularly males, had been simply standing exterior the prepare, keen to hitch the prepare on the final minute.

First prepare rides are all the time particular, I boarded the Accra-Tema commuter prepare, however I didn't sit on the seats, I stood on the locomotive the whole experience with different very cussed younger males, while you see a prepare shifting alongside the railways , the locomotive is in entrance, it homes the motive force and different workers of the prepare, it additionally has the heavy engines that generate the facility wanted to maneuver the heavy automobile behind it.

I used to be amazed by the dimensions and floor shaking monstrosity of this outdated prepare because it began to drag away from the Accra railway station, my eyes full of tears, I used to be terrified and thrilled on the identical time.

The prepare stopped on the Kwame Nkrumah Circle station the place different passengers joined, the experience is thrilling however nowhere close to nice, the loud sound of the prepare horn is so loud, it feels as if iron nails are piercing your eardrums when the horn blows, I requested one younger man in his twenties, who instructed me his title was Enock, why he most well-liked boarding the prepare as his mode of transportation to residence, and he stated he loved boarding the prepare, since trains don't sit in visitors.

I believed since we weren’t sitting within the prepare however reasonably standing on the locomotive, transportation can be free, however because the prepare moved round Avenor, one workers member from the room housing the motive force got here out and demanded fare, which was Ghs5.

The terrifying experience on the prepare was balanced by the cheerful environment of different males making small talks on the prepare.

It was a enjoyable experience, I usually checked out bystanders and squatters alongside the railroad , whereas I held on tightly to an iron bar because the prepare moved at high-speed , the prepare stopped at Achimota, the place I and different passengers bought off, and the attractive blue and yellow prepare continued its vacation spot to Tema, Ghana's fourth largest metropolis.

by Kwame Ofosu Gyimah.