India hands over Govt-funded Jaynagar-Kurtha cross-border rail link to Nepal

India handed over the Jaynagar-Kurtha cross-border rail link, built with the assistance of the Government of India, to the Government of Nepal today, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said on Friday.

Under the grant assistance of the Government of India, the gauge conversion of 34.9 km narrow gauge section into broad gauge, from Jaynagar in India to Kurtha in Nepal, was constructed.

An embassy release stated that the 34.9 km Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.72 km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link being built under the Government of India grant assistance of NPR 8.77 billion.

This section was earlier a narrow gauge rail link between Jayanagar and Bijalpura. There are a total of eight stations and halts on the Jaynagar-Kurtha section, which includes the historically important city of Janakpur.

"Once operationalized, this would be the first broad gauge cross-border rail link between India and Nepal, and would further boost trade and commerce activities as well as people to people linkages between the two countries," said the embassy.

Cross-border rail linkages are an important facet of India-Nepal Development cooperation, which include Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link and Jogbani-Biratnagar (18.6 km) rail link, both being constructed under the Government of India's grant assistance.

Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav witnessed the occasion.

The executing agency for the project, IRCON International Ltd (on behalf of the Government of India) handed over the assets of the section to Nepal Railway Company Limited (on behalf of the Government of Nepal) during the event.

(ANI)