Civil Insight: A Technical Magazine Volume 2 | Page 56

56
STUDENTS’ SECTION
CIVIL INSIGHT 2018
PLANNING FOR RAILWAY SERVICES
Nepal has set an ambitious plan to link North-to-South and East-to-West parts of the country with railways.
Some of the plan outlines for railways are as below:
•
•
•
•
Connect Kathmandu with Terai, Pokhara and also with the other main cities with industrial potentiality
Link Kathmandu to Northern border (China) and Indian border for international business
Connect the Provincial Administrative Centers with East-West and Kathmandu-Terai rail networks
Construct Kathmandu metro services and monorail.
Figure 1: Index Plan of Proposed Nepal Railway
(Source:https://www.slideshare.net/BhimUpadhyaya/nepal-east-west-rail-projectfeasibility-study-
draft-report-presentation)
ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR
Department of Railways of Nepal Government has started the construction of structures and embankment
and the feasibility study on railway. Some progresses made so far are:
•
•
•
•
Works of railway lines which connects Kathmandu to other cities such as Kerung, Birgunj, Pokhara
and Bhairahawa had started
Construction of Jayanagar-Bardibas track, started in three section, in which work on 35 km track
from Jayanagar to Janakpur is almost over
Also, the work on Jalpaiguri-Kakadbhitta, 70 km, and Rupadiya-Nepalgunj, 12 km, have been started
under cross border connectivity project
Construction of Mechi-Mahakali railway with the total length of 945 km is underway for which 8
tunnels are needed to be constructed in the Churiya Hill
PROSPECTIVE CHALLENGES FOR RAILWAYS IN NEPAL
Construction of railways is not an easy job just like having a piece of cake to enjoy. It requires a huge amount
of fi nancial resources, skilled manpower, high-tech equipment and many other necessities. Possible challenges
to be faced during the construction of railways are:
•
•
•
Topographical features of Nepal
Lack of funds and budget
Lack of expertise in railway
•
•
Lack of equipment, plants such as
machines and fl uvial plant
Unstable political conditions and so on.