Nepal Railway proposes Rs 75 fare for Kurtha-Jayanagar rail service

 Nepal Railway has proposed Rs 75 fare for the Kurtha-Jaynagar railway.

According to Nepal Railway Company Ltd, it has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. “As the preparation is going on to operate the railway service on Kurtha-Jayanagar section, we are waiting for the ministry’s green signal to fix the fare,” the general manager of the Company Guru Bhattarai said, adding that the company has proposed Rs 75 for the 35-kilometer route from Kurtha of Dhanusha to Jayanagar of India. “The fare of deluxe seat will cost five times to Rs 375 compared to the fare of general seat.”

Though, the company has been repeatedly claiming that it is ready to operate the railway, the two modern Diesel – Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train sets – bought and brought from India on September 18, 2020 to operate rail service, are being kept under special security of APF since last almost five months.

India to train Nepali technicians to operate cross-border passenger railway service

 India is going to train Nepali railway personnel in Nepal and India.

As Nepal has been preparing to resume passenger railway service on the Kurtha-Jayanagar section of cross-border railway that has been stopped since last seven years, India has agreed to help train the railway personals.

During the fourth India-Nepal Joint Working Group meeting on Railway Cooperation held today via video-conferencing, India has agreed to help in capacity development of Nepali railway personnel and provide training in India, according to a press note issued by the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.

India has also helped upgraded railways into broad gauge from the earlier narrow gauge line. The railway service on narrow gauge was halted after the renovation and upgrading works began.

The Indian side was led by executive director (Traffic Transportation-F) under Ministry of Railways of Indian government Dr Manoj Singh and Nepali side was led by joint secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Government Er Gopal Prasad Sigdel. 

Other stakeholders, who participated from both sides included senior officials from Indian Railway, Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Konkan Railways and IRCON on the Indian side and director general at the Department of Railway (DoRw), general manager of Nepal Railway Company (NRC), officials from Ministry of Home and Foreign Affairs of Government from Nepali side.

The government has already purchased two diesel-electric multiple unit rail sets in September and has hired some technical human resources from India for their operation. However, the rail sets have not been operational due to lack of human resources. The rail sets have remained unused currently due to lack of adequate preparation on the part of the government.

Both sides discussed the technical preparedness of the completed 34-km long section of the railway line between Kurtha in Nepal and Jaynagar in India for the purpose of running passenger train services including the standard operating procedures that need to be put in place for resumption of passenger train services, the press note reads, adding that the Nepal Railway Company will operate the passenger train along this railway line. “The section, originally a narrow gauge built by British India, was upgraded by Indian government to broad gauge at a cost of over Rs 380 cror Indian Currency (Rs 6.80 billion).”

Nepal has recently procured two DEMU train sets from India for running on this railway link. “Both sides further agreed to expedite the work for completion of the other ongoing cross-border railway project between Jogbani in India and Biratnagar being built with a grant assistance of Rs. 5.88 billion,” according to the press note.

The joint working group also reviewed the cross border rail link projects between Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas and Jogbani-Biratnagar including discussions on the mutual facilitation and coordination required for completion of the work on remaining sections from Kurtha to Bilajpura which is being constructed by India at the cost of Rs 3.2 billion.

Nepal and India, on the occasion, also agreed to see potential of developing Birgunj-Kathmandu railway line. In February, Indian government allocated funding to carry out a detailed project report on the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu electric rail project.

Kathmandu-Birgunj electric railway to cost around Rs 265 billion

Kathmandu-Birgunj electric railway is going to cost around Rs 265 billion, according to a Preliminary Engineering and Traffic (PET) report prepared by an Indian firm Kanekar Consulting Engineers (KCE).
Initial draft of the feasibility report of the proposed 135-kilometre-long Kathmandu-Birgunj electric railway has been submitted to the Nepal and Indian governments on May 7. After the consideration of the both countries, further process including conducting detailed engineering study and detailed project report of the project will start, according to the Department of Railways (DoRW).
Apart from the passengers, the electric rail will also transport cargo containers, which is expected to significantly minimise the transport cost and ease the trading.
The report has suggested four alternative routes of the railway, according to director general of the department Balaram Mishra. “The alternative routes include 135-kilometre-long Raxaul-Jitpur-Nijgadh-Shikharpur-Sisnery-Kathmandu; 171-km-long Raxaul-Jitpur-Hatiya-Hetauda-Satikhel-Kathmandu; 191-km-long Raxaul-Jitpur-Nijgadh-Hetauda-Satikhel-Kathmandu; and 191-km-long Raxaul-Jitpur-Nijgadh-Shikharpur-Satikhel-Kathmandu,” he said, adding that the India firm has suggested conducting further studies on the first alternative route – the 135-kilometre-long Raxaul-Jitpur-Nijgadh-Shikharpur-Sisnery-Kathmandu – as it will cost less and has the shortest distance among the four alternatives. “The PET report has identified the places along the route, where 42-km-long tunnel, bridges and other necessary railway infrastructure needs to be built, which means around 20 per cent of railway line will comprise of tunnels and bridges.”
The report has also suggested 13 railway stations along the route of the railway project that needs to acquire around 900 hectares of land.
Both the countries had agreed on effective implementation of bilateral initiatives in railway linkages, inland waterways development and agriculture during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal on May 11 and 12 last year. The Indian prime minister had assured that the entire cost – including establishment of an office, pre-feasibility study, detailed feasibility study (DFS) and detailed project report (DPR) – to construct the railway from Kathmandu to Raxaul will be covered by the Indian government.

Department of Railways seeks human resources

The Department of Railways has sought 200 technical and non-technical staffers to revive the Nepal Railway Company to timely operate Janakpur-Kurtha railways.
The government is planning to operate the Janakpur-Kurtha railway service from October and the department has asked the government to provide staffer to timely start the service.
Nepal Railway Company used to operate Janakpur-Jayanagar railways – which is now non-functional – since 2014, some five years ago – which the government is planning to resume by the end of this year.
“We asked the line ministry, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, in writing to provide us with necessary human resources to revive the company and start Janakpur-Kurtha railway service from October,” Department of Railways confirmed. “The government is planning to operate both passenger and freight trains in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section.”
The Janakpur-Jayanagar railway track reconstruction work is ongoing – at present – with technical and financial support from India..
The department has started the process to revive the government-owned railway company from April 24, the department informed, adding that it has already amended the bylaws for the operation of railway service and hiring of staffers. “It is necessary to revise the previous bylaws and make them more contextual to revamp the railway company and also resume the railway service.”
The department needs to revamp the current organisational structure of the company, apart from adding human resources, also as the government is planning to construct various railway projects across the country.