Kathmandu Kerung Railway Survey started

KATHMANDU

A technical team from China has arrived in Nepal to study the detailed feasibility of the Kathmandu-Kerung  Railway.

The technicians of China Railway Survey and Design Group Company Limited of the Chinese government have arrived in Kathmandu. The team will prepare an engineering study report for the proposed railway. According to Rohit Kumar Bisural, director general of the department, this team will prepare a study report within 42 months. “The team studies at their own expense, we do the security and facilitation work,” Director General Bisural said, “Now the way for the project to move forward is open.”

According to the preliminary study report of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway handed over by China on 24 December 2018, the detailed study should be completed by now. China, citing the epidemic as the reason, gave the information that it would take 42 months for the work to start as the study could not be carried out according to the agreement with Nepal. China argued that it would take more time to complete the study according to the predetermined schedule because the situation was not easy after the epidemic and the study had to be done in complex geography.

The Chinese Embassy said that it is an important part of BRI and that China is always ready to implement the agreement between the two countries. The feasibility study and survey of the China-Nepal cross-border railway is a long-standing dream of the Nepalese people and an important agreement between the leaders of our two countries.

It is also an integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative between Nepal and China,” the embassy said, “China always prioritizes Nepal’s aspirations and needs. Therefore, China will actively advance this study through its aid fund. The embassy also said that both countries will cooperate to build the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network with Nepal, which is under China’s BRI.