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Kathmandu, July 22. Prime Minister Sharma Oli has been focusing on railway issues in recent days. On July 15, he issued instructions to ministers and secretaries that two more trains should be added on the railway from Banga (Bijapura) to Jayanagar via Janakpur. He repeated the same at a programme held by the road department on Sunday.
Oli told Physical Infrastructure Minister Devendra Dahal, Secretary Keshav Kumar Sharma and staff/engineers, “Now we have to develop rail transport.” Due to high passenger flow, the Janakpur railway should run two more trains and extend the railway till Baldibas.
In the past, when Oli was the Prime Minister, the Indian government purchased this train from India after rebuilding the railway and handing it over. PM Oli made the railway and rail issues in Janakpur a matter of his reputation as he had dreamed of having a railway in the past.
After assuming the office of Prime Minister, Oli is talking about increasing the number of trains to Janakpur immediately, while the train operator Nepal Railways has its own problems. The trains are currently loss-making and highly dependent on the Indian company Konkan Railway Limited (KRCL) for operation.
As the prime minister said, there is no shortage of passengers on the railways, the number of passengers exceeds the capacity of the trains. However, the operator, Nepal Railways, is deeply in debt as the fares charged to passengers cannot cover its operating expenses.
The two trains, which have been operating since the expansion of the railway in 19 Chait 2078, are currently operating at a loss. The diesel trains, which the government purchased at a cost of Rs 130 crore in October 2077, started operating normally after a year and a half.
Niranjan Jha, general manager of Nepal Railways, said that the company’s current operations are losing about $150 million a year. Since railway operations require the purchase of technical manpower management and various services from the Indian government, railway costs have increased. “We did not accept all the services of the Indian company as per the contract. Considering the economic situation, we only spend the necessary expenses,” said General Manager Jha.
Indian companies can receive up to 480 million rupees in annual payments under agreements with the government, though payments are reduced because not all services are used. One agreement signed by an Indian company with Nepal shows a train driver will be paid 300,000 rupees.
Because it has been revealed that the pilot was not actually paid that much. The report submitted by the railway company stated that the train can be operated on its own, which mentioned that the cost given to the Indian company can be reduced to 80 million.
No charge if the number of passengers exceeds capacity
This train now starts from Bhangah in Mahottari in the morning and reaches Jayanagar in India, covering a distance of 52 km. It runs 3 times a day on the Jayanagar-Janakpur (29.6 km) route. Finally, in the evening, the train stops again at Bhangah.
According to General Manager of Nepal Railways, most of the time the trains are packed with passengers. In addition, public holidays on Sundays in India and Jayanagar Hat Day on Wednesday are also very crowded. He said that even on Nepali holidays, the number of passengers is high. He said that there are fewer passengers during the rainy season in winter months of July, August and January, and it is difficult to buy tickets and board a train carrying 1,000 passengers at other times. You have to travel by coach.
Jia said that even if there were two trains, it would not be possible to release trains from both directions at the same time as maintenance had to be done alternately. “We had written to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport a year ago saying that we need at least one and possibly two passenger trains,” he said.
He said the railway’s fare was fixed at 70 rupees, excluding operating expenses. “If the service you get from the Indian government can be reduced by withdrawing Indian manpower, the cost will be reduced a lot,” he said.
Now, 20 Indian manpower have been hired in expensive positions as pilots, station masters, track engineers, etc. to operate these trains. The railways had written to the Public Service Commission in August for a review so as to sack them and hire Nepali manpower.
However, the Public Service Department has released the calendar for the upcoming October examination. The Corporation has also prepared and approved the syllabus for this examination.
The company is currently constructing a washing pit in Banga to reduce the number of services with India. Railways started constructing washing pits in Nepal after India had to pay high daily charges for washing and cleaning trains.
Now the structure is in the final stages of construction. After the pit starts cleaning the trains, huge amounts of money paid to the Indian company will be saved. General Manager Jha said the railways are also working on building their own fuel station to refuel the trains.
Cargo can carry life
Various methods are being sought to compensate for the loss of rail services. The company has concluded that Nepal should run its own freight trains on the railway line to make the company profitable.
“It is possible to run freight trains here. Feasibility studies have been done and businessmen here have also requested the service,” said general manager Jia. “If we run freight trains, goods ranging from bulk cargo such as coal and fertilizers will be directly delivered to the local area.”
Even in India, he said, the loss of passenger trains is being made up by operating freight trains. “In December last year, we gave a proposal to the ministry to operate freight trains and now the modality is being discussed,” he said. “The Indian Embassy in Nepal is also positive about it.”
As the current Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is positive about upgrading and expanding railway services, the Railways believes that the Janakpur Railway can be profitable in the future and can be operated with manpower and technology in Nepal. “The Prime Minister is talking about adding two trains here,” he said, “This is a necessary and important thing. If more trains can be added in this way, the quality of service will be improved and passengers will get convenience and benefits.” Easy travel.
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