Civil Insight: A Technical Magazine Volume 2 | Page 55

CIVIL INSIGHT 2018 STUDENTS’ SECTION 55 RAILWAY IN NEPAL: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES Drishtanta Poudel Student BE in Civil Engineering (3 rd Year) INTRODUCTION Railway, a permanent track composed of a line of parallel metal rails fi xed to sleepers, is a pathway for transport of passengers and goods in trains. It is one of the fastest and largest growing means of land transportation all around the world, whereas our country is still lagging a single track record with the exception of Jaynagar- Janakpur railway line. Railway can be used as a permanent mode of connectivity to international market. In the aftermath of the Gorkha Earthquake 2015, it is felt as an essential part but, no doubt, a very diffi cult task for a developing country like Nepal to think about constructing railways on our own expertise and expenditure. HISTORY OF RAILWAY IN NEPAL Railway was introduced to Nepal during the Rana regime; Chandra Shamsher started fi rst-ever railway in 1927 AD, which connected Raxaul to Amlekhgunj, 40 km. Following the introduction of new idea in fi eld of transportation in 1936, new project came into operation connecting Janakpur-Jaynagar, about to operate this year after the halt in 2014. This line was closed to convert its narrow gauge (2 ft. 6 in.) to broad gauge (5 ft. 6 in.). In 2004, a broad gauge line linking Kolkata-Sirsiya was operated as an Inland port. After that some proposals were made in 2009 and 2010, but have failed somehow. In 2011, metro trains were proposed in Kathmandu valley, and the feasibility studies were conducted; the declaration in Annual Budget was done as well. Our neighbors, China and India,very recently have shown good gesture and commitment but still lag the cost component and a thorough cost benefi t analysis to the economy, a basic fundamental of its overall feasibility. As such, China and India have generously agreed the cross border railway connectivity and started some preliminary feasibility study of railway network even though the basic issues of funding in both ways are still unanswered. VISION AND MISSION OF NEPAL RAILWAYS The basic goal of Nepal is to construct a reliable and demanding railway service to connect Nepal to the international market and bring the socio-economic development in every part of the country. This will certainly help uplift the country in double time as transportation counts under major infrastructures for economic development. Other intents include: proceeding with the construction, expansion and management of railway network; providing sustainable and capable service connecting East-West and an important industrial and tourist towns into national railway networks; connecting with railway service through possible borders of India and China. Such undertakings provide the facility in international business including agriculture, natural resource development further increasing the development of railway network. Undoubtedly, all these exercises should be fi nancially and economically viable rather than an easy and popular political slogan to have a sustainable end game.