The Indian government has spent nearly ₹550 crores to extend 17 km of the 68.72 km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway project to improve rail connectivity between India and Nepal.
The section of the railway project that runs from Madhubani district's Jayanagar (Bihar) to Kurtha in Nepal will be extended up to Bijalpura, which is further 17 km from Kurtha. The project will be ready by March 2021. Jayanagar is only 4 Km from the India-Nepal border.
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After Bijalpura, a new line will be constructed till Bardibas after the Nepal government hands over land for the project.
This Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas route has Janakpur, the famous pilgrim centre in Nepal which is 29 Kms from Jayanager. The project is developed by IRCON, and all rail engineering and infrastructure works are complete.
To operate rail service on this route, two sets of 1600 HP DEMU passenger rakes have been supplied by Konkan Rail Corporation Limited (KRCL). These 2 DEMU rakes have 2 AC coaches each apart from non-AC coaches. These 2 rakes were handed over to Nepal in September last year. This will be the first Broad Gauge passenger rail service in Nepal.
Prior to this till 2014 a narrow gauge service ran between Jayanagar and Janakpur operated by Nepal. Indian Railways is extending full cooperation to Nepal in running the BG service by sharing the know-how and operations and maintenance processes with Nepal Railway Company as well as imparting training to officials from Nepal.
A draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for starting passenger train operations in the section has been prepared and shared with Nepal Railways by the Indian Railways. KRCL is being considered by Nepal Railway Company to run the operations and maintenance of this line till such time Nepal Railway Company is able to do this itself.
Both Nepal and India are working together to start rail service between Jayanagar and Kurtha and it is hoped that after finishing the necessary technical and operational requirements, this service will be commenced soon.
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