Kurtha-Bijalpura broad gauge railway comes into operation

By Our Correspondent,Bardibas, July 17: The much-awaited 17-km Kurtha-Bijalpura broad gauge railway line has come into operation. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala inaugurated the railway track constructed by the Indian railway company Ircon International.

Ircon had completed the construction of the project and its General Manager, Deepak Kumar, handed over the infrastructure to Niranjan Jha, General Manager of Nepal Railway Company (NRC) on June 1 this year. Following the handover of the facility, the NRC made arrangements to operate rail service in the extended section of the 52-km Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bijalpura railway line. 

This is Nepal’s only and cross-border railway line for passenger services. Rail cargo service is operational at Birgunj customs as well. 

As Minister Jwala signalled the commencement of railway service from Bijalpura station by waving a green flag on Sunday, local people expressed their joy as the service had resumed after 21 years. According to Rohit Kumar Bisural, General Manager of the Department of Railway, the then narrow-gauge train track which was in operation since the Rana period, was out of service after a flood swept away the track bridge over the Ratu River in 2002.  At that time, this train was called Nepal Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway, or NJJR.

GM of NRC, Jha, said that currently one rail service will be operated daily on this route. On the Janakpur-Kurtha 35-km railway track, the train service was started on April 3, 2022. This route was jointly inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on April 1, 2022. 

While inaugurating the passenger railway service, Minister Jwala said that the country has taken a leap in the transport sector with the launch of this train. He informed that the government plans to extend the railway to Bardibas soon after Bijalpura and then to Nijgadh in Bara district. He said that since the Detailed Project Report has been prepared for the construction of the Nijgadh-Kathmandu railway, the government is committed to strengthening the tri-national relationship (Nepal with China and India) through the railway.

He informed that a cargo train service will be operated soon from Bathnaha, India, to Biratnagar in Nepal.

“At the same time, we are preparing for the operation of cargo train. The government is committed to its development and expansion as the railway plays an important role in the country’s economic development and business promotion,” said Minister Jwala. 

Agriculture Minister of Madhes Province Govind Neupane expressed the view that even though the passenger train service will add convenience in the field of transportation, there should be coordination and cooperation with India for the operation of cargo train to support trade and economy of the country.

Prashanna Srivastava of the Indian Embassy said that the railway in Nepal is connected with Indian railway which is the world’s largest rail network. He expressed his confidence that the infrastructure would help Nepal make leaps in the areas of trade and transit.