A 41-year-old truck driver, Abel Dzidotor, who caused the accident on the Tema-Mpakadan railway line with his abandoned truck has been sentenced to six months in prison.
He was charged with careless and inconsiderate driving, unauthorized stopping, causing unlawful damage, and failing to produce a driver’s license.
He pleaded guilty to three of the charges.
On the first count, Dzidotor was sentenced to 100 penalty units. If defaulted he will serve 20 months in jail.
He was sentenced to 20 penalty units for the second charge and in default will serve 5 months imprisonment.
For the third charge, he was sentenced to six months in jail.
However, the Juapong court presided over by His Honour Prosper Deu-Love Gormashie adjourned the hearing on charge 4 to May 9, 2024, the driver having failed to produce his duty license.
READ ALSO: Police Arrest Driver Who Allegedly Caused Train Accident On Tema-Mpakadan Rail Line
On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the truck driver left the truck with registration number GS 9018 – 20 unattended on the railway line at Abortia, a suburb of Juapong, resulting in a collision with the new Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train recently procured from Poland.
The truck got damaged beyond repair while the train had some damage.
Following the collision, the driver went into hiding at Tagadzi where he was arrested and arraigned before the court.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways Development said the train was on a test run.
It added that there were no fatalities from the accident, apart from damage to the driver’s cabin and the destruction of the truck.
The first batch of 12 state-of-the-art trains assembled in Poland for railway transportation in Ghana arrived in March 2024.
The trains are to be used on the new Tema-Mpakadan Standard-Gauge Railway Line.
The 97km standard-gauge railroad, known as the Tema-Mpakadan Railway Line, will facilitate the movement of goods and people along the Eastern Corridor of Ghana.
It is part of a larger plan for a 1000-km-Ghana-Burkina Faso interconnectivity project, connecting Ouagadougou to the port in Tema, Ghana.