The train wet leased from India for the Janakpur-Jayanagar-Kurtha railway line will start this December, railway department said.

The Department of Railways aims to start the route by December. It has sought draft documents from the Indian government to review the terms before signing the agreement.

Railway officials expect the draft document to arrive from India soon.

Nepal is wet leasing the train because it lacks skilled and experienced staff to operate the railway.

Nepal has decided to wet lease because the company that owns the train supplies the locomotive as well as crew to the lessee.

The owner will do maintenance of the train and all other operations.  

Feasibility study and test run for the route have been done. Last week, railway authorities successfully completed the test-run of Janakpur-Jayanagar route that was lying dormant for the last four years. A test-run train with 53 bogies arrived Khajuri from Jayanagar station in India to Khajuri in Nepal.

A railway department official said, it would recruit and train Nepali staff and “gradually phase out the Indian crew”.

The Janakpur-Jayanagar-Kurtha broad-gauge railway line was built at a cost of Rs8.8 billion with support from the Indian government.

The project has three phases. The first entails constructing the 34km segment between Jayanagar and Kurtha. The second phase covers 18km segment from Kurtha to Bhangaha in Mahottari District. The third phase covers a 17km segment from Bhangaha to Bardibas. Of the total length of the route, 3 km are in India.

Officials expect to complete the first phase by the end of this year.

Nepal government has allocated Rs50 million to develop railways in the current fiscal year which, according to the officials, is significantly less compared to the resources required to run an effective railway system.  

India has completed the field study of the Kathmandu-Raxaul railway line. It is will share its report with Nepal soon.

In the third week of August, a Nepali government team that includes officials from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Railways Department will meet in Xian, China to discuss the pre-feasibility study of the Kathmandu-Kerung railway line.