Pre-feasibility study of Nepal-China Himalayan Trans-border Railway to be conducted

KATHMANDU, May 7: The pre-feasibility study of the Nepal-China Himalayan Trans-border Railway is to be carried out, according to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.

An agreement on this was reached in talks between the officials of the two countries in the Chinese capital of Beijing recently, the Ministry stated in a press note on Monday.

The press note further reads that the pre-feasibility study would be carried out by Chinese engineers and the Government of the People’s Republic of China would also provide the financial support required for the same.

Ministry spokesperson Rajendra Raj Sharma said that the Chinese technicians would submit a report by August 31 after conducting the pre-feasibility study.

A seven-member delegation of Nepali officials had left for China on April 28 under the leadership of Ministry secretary Madhusudan Adhikari for the study and observation visit. The delegation comprised of spokesperson Sharma, chief of the Foreign Cooperation Coordination Division at the Ministry, joint-secretary Keshav Kumar Sharma and director general of the Department of Railways, Ananta Acharya, among other officials.

The delegation returned home after concluding a week-long study and observation about the railway infrastructure in China. The Nepali delegation went on the visit at the invitation of the Chinese government.

“An agreement has been reached in course of the visit to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the proposed 75-kilometre Kerung-Kathmandu railway and to carry out the feasibility study of the railway as it is required to use new technology due to Nepal’s geographical situation as well,” he said.

China has expressed commitment to train the Nepali railway officials and extend support to Nepal for expanding the rail network. In course of the bilateral talks, the Chinese railway administration officials informed the Nepali delegation that Chinese President Xi Jinping has given high priority to development of railway in Nepal.

The Chinese Railways Minister shared with the Nepali delegation during the bilateral talks that President Xi has also directed the Chinese railway administration officials to extend whatever possible support to Nepal in the development of the railway infrastructure.

Before this the officials of the National Railway Administration of China had come to Nepal in November last year for a discussion on this topic and would also come before January next year for further discussions, according to spokesman Sharma.

He said the Government of Nepal would extend cooperation to the study and research the Chinese technicians will be undertaking in Nepal in the context of what kind of technology to use for bringing the train from highland of China to Nepal. The Ministry added that nowhere in the world has so far railway been operated in such steep gradient. RSS