India has handed over the Jayanagar-Kurtha cross-border railway constructed with the assistance of the Government of India to the Government of Nepal.
The railway was handed over to the Government of Nepal in a ceremony held in the presence of the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renukumari Yadav and the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra.
During the ceremony, IRCON International Limited, the implementing body of the project, handed over the railway section to Nepal Railway Company Limited, which is present on behalf of the Government of Nepal, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy in Nepal.
With the financial support of the Government of India, the work of converting the 34.9 km narrow yard section from Jayanagar in India to Kurtha in Nepal was completed.
The 34.9-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurtha section, built at a cost of Rs 8.77 billion under India’s financial assistance, is part of the 68.72-kilometer Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway line, the embassy said.
‘This section was earlier a green yard railway between Jayanagar and Bijalpura. The Jayanagar-Kurtha section has a total of eight stations and small stations, including the historically important city of Janakpur, the statement said.
Once operational, it will be the first broad-gauge cross-border railway between India and Nepal, the embassy said.
“This will further boost trade and commerce between the two countries and further strengthen people-to-people contacts,” the statement said.
The cross-border rail network has been an important part of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. These include the Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway and the 18.6 km Jogbani-Biratnagar railway.
