China Railway First Survey Design Institute Group will conduct feasibility study for Kerung-Kathmandu railway.
The company has been selected after an agreement between officials of the two countries in Beijing last week to conduct feasibility study for the railway line, according to Communication Officer at the Department of Railways Prakash Bhakta Upadhyay.
“The company will come soon for study. The Chinese side will bear all the expenses for this study. The company will submit the report by August,” Upadhyay said.
He revealed that the report of the study conducted by the Chinese side in November 2017 has also been received by the department.
A 33-member Chinese team led by deputy head of China Railway Administration Zhain Jian in November 2017 had done field study for Kerung-Kathmandu and Pokhara-Lumbini railway lines. “They have said that massive study will be needed as the Kerung-Kathmandu railway line will be among the most difficult ones in the world,” Upadhyay said about the report.
A team led by Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Madhusudan Adhikari had gone to China last week for agreement on feasibility study. The team that also included officials from the department and Foreign Ministry observed railway lines in Xian, Shanghai and Beijing, according to Upadhyay.
The department, meanwhile, has stopped the process of feasibility study for Birgunj-Kathmandu railway that it had started with its own resources. It had invited bids for feasibility study on November 30, 2017.
The department had even started negotiations with a South Korean company out of the 14 companies who took part in the tender process. The process has now been stopped after the dialogue with Korean company in the third week of April.
Nepal and India had agreed to construct Raxaul-Kathmandu electric railway line during the India visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in April. The joint statement issued during the visit stated that the feasibility study will be completed within a year.
The process with the Korean company has been stopped on request of the Indian side on the basis of that agreement. The department wanted the feasibility study completed within six months of agreement with the Korean company.
