Bijalpura-Jayanagar railway publishes winter schedule

By Dhirendra Prasad Sah,Janakpurdham, Nov. 17:The Bijalpura-Janakpurdham-Jayanagar rail service has published a new winter schedule to come into effect from Friday.

Presently, the rail makes one round trip from Bijalpura (Nepal) to Jayanagar (India) and three round trips from Janakpurdham (Nepal) to Jayanagar every day. According to Niranjan Kumar Jha, general manager of the Nepal Railway Company Limited, the number of trips will remain the same but their timing will be changed, taking into account the shortening days and increasing cold.

New schedule

As per the new schedule, the railway will now operate from 7.30 am to 7.15 pm every day. The first trip of the day will leave from Bhangaha (Bijalpura) station at 7.30 am and the last trip will reach Bhangaha at 7.15 pm.

After departing Bhangaha, the train the railway operates will reach Jayanagar at 9.15 am. It will then depart Jayanagar at 10 am and reach Janakpurdham at 11.15 am. 

It will remain at Janakpurdham for half an hour and leave at 11.45 am. It will leave Jayanagar to come back to Janakpurdham at 1.45 pm. The day's penultimate trip will go from Janakpur to Jayanagar at 3.15 pm and the final trip will be from Jayanagar to Bhangaha at 4.45 pm. The distance between Bijalpura and Jayanagar is 52.5 kilometres.

The present iteration of the railway began service on April 14 this year. At first, it only spanned 35 kilometres from Kurtha (Nepal) to Jayanagar. But it was later extended to Bijalpura. Now, work is ongoing to extend the line to Bardibas. 

This service is a revival of the old Bijalpura-Jayanagar railway that started in 1937 when Rana Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher was in power. The line constructed at that time remained in operation until 2001 when a flood swept away the Bighipul Bridge at Loharpatti, Mahottari.

The bridge was not constructed, instead, the line was shortened to Janakpur.