Nepal's Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav said that the Jaynagar-Kurtha Railway built with Indian assistance has given birth to a modern railway system in the Himalayan Nation.
Addressing the handing-over and receiving ceremony of the Jaynagar-Kurtha cross border rail link, Minister Yadav claimed that it has brought modernization in Nepal's railway system.
Under the grant assistance of the Government of India, the gauge conversion of 34.9 km narrow gauge section into broad gauge, from Jaynagar in India to Kurtha in Nepal, was constructed.
An Indian Embassy in Kathmandu release stated that the 34.9 km Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.72 km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link being built under the Government of India grant assistance of NPR 8.77 billion.
"The Jaynagar-Bijulpura-Bardibas railway infrastructure handover of today marks the start of broad-gauge and demo-train has opened doors of the modern form of the railway system in Nepal," Yadav said.
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra said that the handing over of the railway to Nepal is a central feature of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Neighbourhood First" policy.
"The connectivity between people of two countries is one of the central features of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Neighbourhood First" policy in our region. Connectivity lies in the very heart of everything that we as a society do, we as a country do and we as a people do whether it is economic, cultural exchanges or even very simple exchanges between people of two countries," the Indian envoy said.
There is a total of 8 stations and halts on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section, which include the historically important city of Janakpur which is expected to facilitate the movement of people from and to Janaki Temple in Janakpur.
For the conversion of the railway line, the IRCON International Limited (A public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India) was assigned to construct the Jayanagar-Bardibas Railway line (69KM) and Jogb- Biratnagar Railway Line (18.6KM) in the first phase.
In Jogb- Biratnagar Railway Line approximately 10 km of the track construction has been completed and the balance is under construction. In the Jayanagar-Bardibas Railway line, Jayanagar-Janakpur- Kurtha section (34.9KM) has been completed for operationalization.
Recently, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for operationalization of Jayanagar-Kurtha Train Service has been signed by both governments. The other three railway lines, namely New Jalpaigudi-Kakarbhitta, Nautanwa-Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj are under process for carrying out further study.
( With inputs from ANI )
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