Gold Coast Government Railway

The construction of the Gold Coast Government Railway began in the Sekondi district in 1898, but protests to the Colonial Office, a shortage of labour and the breakout of the final Ashanti war meant progress was slow until 1900. The railway reached Tarkwa in 1901, Obuasi in 1902 and in 1903 Ashanti. In 1912 a line connecting the colony’s capital, and government seat, of Accra with Kumasi was commenced and completed in 1923, making the railway 362 miles. In 1928, Takoradi Harbour was opened which enabled the exportation of mangoase, mahogany, cocoa and timber brought by the railway from the interior of the Gold Coast Colony.

With the exception of 39 mile journey between Accra and Mangoase, which was privately contracted, the whole Gold Coast Railway was built by government departments. The company headquarters were in Sekondi initially, but then moved to Takoradi in 1928 after the construction of the harbour. The railway was built using 16,000 native Africans, 12,000 of whom were Nigerian, after the Gold Coast government appealed to neighbouring colonies for labour, in addition the locomotives and rolling stock were imported. The main stations were Accra, Mangoase, Sekondi, Tarkwa, Obuasi, Takoradi and Kumasi. The workshops were situated two miles from Sekondi, though repairs were also carried out at Accra. In 1957, Gold Coast Railway became Ghana Railway after Ghana became an independent nation from the United Kingdom.