By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 7: India has completed the second phase of Nepal-India Railway Project connecting Bijalpura with Kurtha and is in the process to hand it over to the Government of Nepal in a couple of weeks but it is uncertain when the rail will come into regular operation.

The 18-km stretch from Kurtha to Bijalpura, a section of the Nepal-India cross-border rail link, has three stations - Kurtha, Pipradi and Bijalpura, and two halts – small stations without staff and facilities – at Loharpati and Singyahi.
The Department of Railways (DoR) said that the infrastructure is ready for the operation of trains but the service would take some time since human resources are being managed.
Spokesperson of the DoR Aman Chitrakar said that the timeline for the train operation is not finalised yet, however, preparations are being expedited.

According to him, training for the human resources recruited from the Nepal Railway Company has concluded and soon they will be deployed to operate the rail service. But core technical manpower such as loco pilots and assistant loco pilots will be supplied by the Konkan Rail Corporation Limited, the supplier of the trains to Nepal.

The DoR had planned to operate railway service in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section from October 2018 but delay in procuring the locomotives failed the plan.
The Konkan Rail Corporation could deliver two sets of DEMU trains only in September 2020. However, the trains procured at the cost of Rs. 846.5 million are rusting at Janakpur station since then.

The first cross-border railway connectivity project covers about 69.8 km from Jayanagar in Bihar to Bardibas in Mahottari district in Nepal. However, the third phase of the project – Bijalpura to Bardibas – is yet to be completed. The project is funded by India and it has invested about INR 5.5 billion till now.
Till 2014, Nepal had narrow gauge train service which is being converted to broad gauge passenger rail service.