New trains likely to arrive in a few months

Kathmandu, Feb. 2: If all goes well, Nepal will have two trains by the first month of the Nepali New Year 2076 – April/May 2019.

The government has decided to procure two DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) Train sets having 5 to 10 bogies with an engine each at the front and back.

These trains are good for shuttle service, such Janakapur-Jayanagar.

"The government has released Rs. 500 million for the initial work of procurement. We need about Rs. 1.5 billion to buy the trains and bring them into operation," said Balram Mishra, Director General of Department of Railways (DoR).

The Indian government has agreed to provide the first two trains built for Nepal and has sent a proposal which is being evaluated by the government.

As there is no private company to make the trains in India, the government-run company generally takes about three months to make a locomotive, that means, Nepal is unlikely to receive the trains before that time.

"It takes time to procure a train. We have just received the proposal from the Indian company, it should be evaluated and there will be another agreement to make the procurement," said Mishra.

Nepal has to procure the train from India as other countries do not produce the broad gauge rails. They are using narrow-gauge, standard gauge and other railway formats.

Although Nepal has more than a dozen railway plans such as Mechi-Mahakali Railway, Keyrung-Kathmandu-Lumbini Railway, Metro Trains in various cities and Nepal-India cross-border railways, the country does not have a train.

Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway service was announced to be started in December 12 last year but this could not happen due to the lack of train and trained manpower.

Earlier, the DoR was working to procure a train from India in a wet lease to run the service in the Janakpur-Jayanagar section.

Wet-lease means hiring a train, including its staff and technicians.

"But, we have changed the plan and decided to buy trains instead. But, since we severely lack the technicians and railway engineers, required human resources will be outsourced for at least a year in order to train the existing Nepali human resources and prepare new ones," said Mishra.

Nepal had requested India, in July last year, to send experts required for the service launching.

Both India and China had agreed to support Nepal in developing the manpower for railways, but there has been little progress in realising it.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 February 2019.