India-Nepal
India hands over Jaynagar-Kurtha cross-border rail link to Nepal
Kathmandu/New Delhi/UNI: India on Friday handed over the Jaynagar-Kurtha cross-border rail link, built with Government of India assistance, to the Government of Nepal.
Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and Nepal’s Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav witnessed the handing over ceremony.
The executing agency for the project, IRCON International Ltd (on behalf of Government of India) handed over the assets of the section to Nepal Railway Company Limited (on behalf of Government of Nepal) during the event, said a statement from the Indian Embassy in Nepal.
Under grant assistance of Government of India, the gauge conversion of the 34.9 km narrow gauge section into broad gauge, from Jaynagar in India (Madhubani district in Bihar), to Kurtha in Nepal (Dhansua district), has now been completed, said the statement.
The 34.9 km Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.72 km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link being built under Government of India grant assistance of Nepali Rs 8.77 billion.
This section was earlier a narrow gauge rail link between Jayanagar and Bijalpura.
There are total eight stations and halts on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section, which includes the historically important city of Janakpur.
Once operationalized, this would be the first broad gauge cross-border rail link
between India and Nepal, and would further boost trade and commerce activities as
well as people to people linkages between the two countries.
Cross-border rail linkages are an important facet of India-Nepal Development
cooperation, which include Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link and Jogbani-Biratnagar (18.6 km) rail link, both being constructed under Government of India grant assistance, it said.
In July this year, a trial run was successfully completed on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section.
Jaynagar is 4 km from the India-Nepal border. This route has Janakpur, the famous pilgrim centre in Nepal, which is 29 km from Jaynagar.
In September last year, two sets of Diesel Electric Multiple Unit passenger rakes were supplied by Konkan Rail Corporation Limited (KRCL). The 2 DEMU rakes have 2 AC coaches each apart from non-AC coaches.
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