New Delhi: India and Nepal review the implementation of the ongoing cross-border train link with overall bilateral cooperation in the railroad sector, the external ministry said on Thursday.
The two countries held a Joint Joint Working Group (JWG) and 7th Project Steering Committee (PSC) from 6-7 October here, said MEA in a statement.
On the Indian side, JWG is led by Dr.
Manoj Singh, Executive Director (Traffic Transportation-Freight), the Railway Ministry, and PSC by Anurag Bhushan, Joint Secretary, DPA-III of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Nepalese parties are led by Keshab Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation Physical, for both meetings.
Both parties signed a standard operating procedure (SOP) to start passenger train services in the Jaynagar-Kurtha and Memorandum Memorandum (MoU) for the final location survey (FLS) from the railroad track proposed between Raxaul and Kathmandu, said MEA.
SOP provides a technical aspect of running a passenger train in the new section and will function as a guide document to start the initial train service in the cross-border train link that will come with Nepal, he said.
The proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu gauge railroad will increase connectivity between India and Nepal.
Both parties also discussed the works of Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas ongoing and Jogbani-Biratnagar the vast railway between India and Nepal, was developed with the help of grants from the Indian government, said MEA.
The technical preparedness of the 34-km has been completed from the railway line, from Jaynagar (India) to Kurtha (Nepal) for the operationalization of passenger train services was also reviewed.
The Nepalese side also informs that the necessary regulatory framework will be placed to facilitate the initial operationalization, MEA said.
For Kurtha to Bilajpura (17.25 km) part of the railway, the Nepal team believes to provide the facilitation needed to complete the earliest work, he said.
Both parties also agreed to accelerate the work of the Jogbani-Biratnagar rail completion throughout 18.6 km, and initially operationalization, the statement said.
Progress at Raxaul-Kathmandu extensive Railway Link and the Phase-II train link project was also discussed at the meeting.
Both parties agreed to increase technical cooperation in the railroad sector, including in the field of capacity building, logistical support and training of Nepal train personnel, said statement.