Feasibility study for Kathmandu-Raxaul railway begins

KATHMANDU, June 8: Nepal and India has jointly begun the preliminary feasibility study for the proposed Kathmandu-Raxaul railway on Friday. A joint team has started carrying out the study, according to Department of Railways, Nepal.

The railway department shared that the joint team will visit Chobahar, where a railway station has been proposed. After that the team will reach Birjung to carry out study, according to senior engineer at Railway Department, Prakash Bhakta Upadhyay.

The railway will be 113 kilometer long, of which around 20 percent will be tunnels and bridges.

After the team submits the preliminary study report after three months, a detailed project report (DPR) on Kathmandu-Raxaul railway will be prepared. If everything goes as planned, the construction of railway will begin after around two years.

On April 7, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, during Oli’s India visit, had agreed to construct a new electrified rail line connecting the border city of Raxaul in India to Kathmandu, with India’s financial support.