Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba are all set to inaugurate the rail service between the two countries operating from Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Janakpur on Saturday. The broad gauge rail line project, with an aspiration of taking bilateral relations between the two nations to a higher level, will have a formal launch programme at Delhi’s Hyderabad House. The event will be conducted using videoconferencing, and both leaders will flag off the first train on the section around 12.15pm.
In the first phase of the project, 34.50km (Jaynagar to Kurtha) out of a total 69.08km-long stretch is opening while the remaining line till Bardibas of Nepal will be made functional in some time. The venture has a total of 2.95km in India while the remaining 65.75km is in Nepal.
East Central Railway (ECR) chief public relations officer (CPRO) Birendra Kumar says, “This will significantly facilitate the pilgrims going from India to Janakpur Dham in Nepal. After the start of this rail service, travel will be smooth, and trade will get a boost. Further, tourist movement will be facilitated, and the border area will also develop rapidly.”
The operation of trains on narrow gauge between Jaynagar in India and Baijalpur in Nepal was started in 1937. Due to floods in Nepal, it got disrupted in 2001, but the train service from Janakpur to Jaynagar continued till March 2014. After a long wait of eight years, the countries will once again be connected with a rail line.
The section will have a total of eight stations and six halt stations. It will also have 47 road crossings and 15 major bridges. Further, there are 127 minor bridges on the route. As per the initial plans, for passenger trains, a speed of 100kilometres per hour will be allowed, while for freight, it will be limited to 65kmph.
To operate on the route, two sets of 1600 HP DEMU passenger rakes were supplied to Nepal by Konkan Rail Corporation Limited (KRCL). These rakes have two AC coaches each apart from non-AC coaches. KRCL is being considered by Nepal Railway to run the operations and maintenance till it is able to do this itself.
In July 2021, Indian Railways carried out a speed trial on the section, which Railways Nepal endorsed. It was declared all fit and was given for further commissioning in October 2021.
“Besides being a technically superior project, it is also a project of great significance for both the countries. This is only the beginning; in railways, we will continue working for the development and ties of both the nations,” says Gaurav Krishna Bansal, executive director of information and publicity in the Railway Board.
Trains on the section will pass through the Madhubani district of Bihar and the agricultural and densely populated districts of Dhanusa, Mahottari, and Siraha in Nepal. Custom checking points have been made on this railway line at Jaynagar in India and Inarwa station in Nepal.
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