Nepal and India are starting a joint survey of the Bijalpura-Bardibas section of the cross border rail line starting December 17, a senior official of the Department of Railway said.

Currently, passenger railway service is operational from the bordering Indian town—Jayanagar to Nepal’s Bijalpura in Mahottari district. There is a plan to extend the cross-border railway to Bardibas of Mahottari district. The broad gauge railway line is being built with India's grant assistance.

“There is a plan to start a joint survey of the Bijalpura-Bardibas section of the railway to pave the way for construction of the railway line,” said Rohit Kumar Bisural, director general at the Department of Railway. “Compensation distribution is also undergoing for the land acquired for the project.”

He said that once Nepal completes site clearance by paying the compensations for the land, the Indian contractor would start laying the railroad. It will be the third phase of construction work to be undertaken in the Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas cross-border rail line.

The construction of the Bijalpura-Bardibas section was delayed and it took a long time to distribute compensations for the acquired land. “There are no issues with land acquisition and compensation distribution,” said Bisural.

In July, railway service was brought into operation in the 17.3km Kurtha-Bijalapura section of the cross border railway line. This section was built under the second phase of the railway project and it was handed over to Nepal during the recent visit of Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to India in May and June. Currently, the passenger railway service is being operated on a 52-km section of the railway.

The then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had flagged off the Kurtha-Janakpur-Jayanagar train service, officially resuming the cross-border railway between the two countries, in April last year. Initially, the railway was operated in the Kurtha-Janakpur-Jayanagar section which was later expanded to Bijalpura.

It was considered a milestone in strengthening cross-border connectivity between Nepal and India. This is Nepal's first cross-border broad gauge railroad and the first rail link between the two countries to be operationalized since the rail services were halted in 2014 for infrastructure upgrade.

Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas cross-border rail line is being constructed under the grant assistance of the Indian government at the total project cost of INR 783.83 crores (Rs12.54 billion), according to the Indian embassy.

The Jayanagar-Kurtha-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway is one of the five cross-border links being planned between Nepal and India. Besides this, India has already expressed its commitment to extending cross-border rail to Kakarbhitta, Biratnagar, Janakpur, Bhairahawa, and Nepalgunj by linking them to the closest Indian railway stations.