The much-awaited plan to conduct a detailed study of the Kerung-Kathmandu Railway Project that connects Kathmandu to Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China is finally set to begin.
A team of Chinese experts that arrived in Kathmandu on Monday commenced its work in coordination with the Department of Railways (DoR). The study is being carried out with the support of the Chinese government as per the agreement reached between Nepal and China.
Director General of the DoR Rohit Kumar Bisural said the Chinese team held a consultation with them in this regard. “The work on the detailed study has started as they arrived here for the same purpose,” he added.
According to the DoR, it will take three and half years for the study of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway. Although it was said before that the Chinese government would carry out a study of the railway to Pokhara or Lumbini via Kathmandu, there is no such plan for now, said Director General Bisural.
According to him, 72 kilometers of the railway will lie within Nepal as per the preliminary study carried earlier. The DoR stated that the railway line will originate from Kerung and connect Kathmandu via Rasuwagadhi.
“The study of the railway will be carried out in such a way that the railway track will bifurcate towards Nepal from the railway track going towards Mansarovar of Tibet from a lake above Kerung,” said Director General Bisural.
The Chinese government had sent a Letter of Undertaking (LoU) to Nepal on the basis of an agreement reached five years back. The LoU was approved by Nepal on December 22.
The DoR forwarded the document to the Ministry of Finance for necessary action, but it was delayed for a long time due to various reasons.
The pre-feasibility study of the railway was conducted in November 2018 and an agreement for carrying out the feasibility study was reached during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal from October 12 to 13 in 2019.
After this, a memorandum of understanding was reached in the course of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Nepal in March 2022 for expediting the feasibility study. Even though the Chinese government had stated that it would start several projects, it did not do so for some years citing COVID-19 pandemic. The feasibility study of this railway was one of them.
Discussions on the matter between the officials of Nepal and China were being held after the National Railway Administration of China submitted a preliminary study report on Kerung-Kathmandu railway to the government. The feasibility study report had paved the way to do further homework on the issue of how and in which model to construct the railway.
The feasibility study report has incorporated geographical study from Kathmandu-Kerung via Trishuli, topographical features, among others. A detailed study is going to be held based on the preliminary study report.
Transit and Transport Agreement was one of the important documents signed during the China visit of President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Similarly, Trans Himalaya Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network and Nepal-China Cross-Border Railway would be of great help for Nepal in expansion of connectivity network with China.
Construction of the railway, which Nepal is looking at with hope, is not easy due to complex geographical territory. Most of the railway would be inside the tunnel. Ninety-nine per cent of the railway would be inside Nepal, reads the preliminary report.
