Kathmandu, March 28: The preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) of the railway from Raxaul to Kathmandu has started. According to Nepal Railway Company Limited, the possibility of a total length of 136 kilometers of railway has been studied and the final preparation of DPR has begun.
“The technical team of the Indian Railway Company Corporation (Konkan) is preparing the DPR of the railway”, said Niranjan Kumar Jha, General Manager of the Nepal Railway Company Limited, “The DPR will be ready within a month.” He said that after the approval of DPR, the construction phase begins, including the cost sharing modality.
After the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Nepal and India on Bhadra 15, 2076 BS for the initial feasibility study of the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway, Nepal sent a formal proposal to India in 2077 BS to prepare the DPR.
Although there is a preliminary feasibility study to build the inland railway connecting with India on broad gauge, the government has been insisting that the railway be built on standard gauge. Indian Railway Company Konkan had prepared the report in eight months in coordination with Nepal Government. According to the preliminary study, the length of the railway will be 136 km and a tunnel and a special bridge will be constructed for the railway.
Anil Agrawal, President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that after the Raxaul-Kathmandu direct train service is started, business people here will gain momentum. “Birgunj is also known as the economic capital of the country”, he said. “when the train starts running directly from Raxaul to Kathmandu via Birgunj, the economic situation here will become more dynamic and the economy of the country will be greatly supported.”
Similarly, General Manager Jha said that soil filling is also being done for the construction of the railway from Bardibas in Mahottari to Nijgarh in Bara, which will connect Nepal to the rail network.
The construction of 17 km broad gauge railway from Kurtha in Dhanusha to Bijalpura in Mahottari under the Jayanagar-Bardibas railway has reached its final stage. According to General Manager Jha, the Indian construction company will hand over the track to the Nepal Railway Company within a few days as the main works of construction of railway tracks from Kurtha to Vijalpura have been completed.
“The railway track is being prepared to be handed over to us”, General Manager Jha said, “Once it is handed over, we will run the train to Vijalpura.” A few days ago a train was run from Kurtha to Bijalpura and tested. The construction of 18 km railway from Bijalpura to Bardibas has become a problem due to land compensation dispute.
“Due to the issue of land compensation, the construction of the railway from Bijalpura-Bhangha to Bardibas has been affected”, said Ravindra Sah, an engineer of the Nepal Railway Company.
He says that in some places there are Dalit settlements on government lands and they do not have any papers. He said that the locals are disputing by asking for compensation. Due to this, he said, there is a problem in the construction of the railway track.
“Even if we want to, we have not been able to solve the problem”, said Engineer Sah. “After the compensation problem is solved, the broad gauge railway will be built within two years and the train will start running till Bardibas.”
In 2010, there was a bilateral agreement between the governments of Nepal and India regarding the expansion of the railway network in Nepal. Accordingly, the construction was started from 2011. According to the Nepal Railway Company, the contract for the construction of broad gauge was received by the Indian contractor company Ircon International Limited and under the supervision of the company two construction companies were awarded the contract in Dhanusha and Mahottari.
Out of the 70 km under construction railway from Jayanagar to Bardibas in Mahottari, 35 km railway from Jayanagar to Kurtha has been running regular train services since 2078 BS. The train service running on that route was jointly inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Chait 20, 2078 BS.
