KATHMANDU, AUG 30 -The government has been working to form a Railway Board, an autonomous body to develop the country’s railway sector. This will be the sole body to look after all the affairs related to railway s, and the existing entities including the Department of Railway and Nepal Railway Company will be dissolved.
The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) has sent a draft railway regulation to the Ministry of Law and Justices for its approval. The regulation has emphasized the development of the sector through public private partnership and the private sector alone.
The regulation, based on the new Railway Act which was endorsed by President Ram Baran Yadav through an ordinance four months ago, has envisioned creating a separate autonomous body to construct and manage railway services.The Railway Act deals with the overall development of the sector while the old Railway Act 1963 was only concerned with operating Nepal Railway Company that operates Janakpur Railway.
“We have submitted the regulation to the Law Ministry for its consent,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Physical Infrastructure Ministry. After the Law Ministry finalises the regulation, it will be sent to the Cabinet for its endorsement.
The government has been working on a number of railway projects like the East-West Electrical Project, Metro Rail in the Kathmandu valley and cross-border railway links through the Department of Railway. As the government has put railway development in its priority list, the need for new legal frameworks has been underlined.
The proposed Railway Board, which will be chaired by the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, will work on development, expansion, operation and management of railway s in close collaboration with other ministries. The secretaries of other ministries like Finance, Home Affairs and Commerce will be inducted as members, said an official of the MoPIT.
As railway s require a lot of investment, the new act includes a provision allowing their construction through public private partnership and the involvement of the private sector. The government has also been considering doing a feasibility study of north-south rail links which will form part of the Trans-Asia Railway Network with the aim of connecting the two neighbouring countries, India and China.
During the current fiscal year, the government plans to start construction of the Bardibas-Simara section of the East-West railway and continue detailed project reports (DPR) of other sections. This ambitious railway with six sections will connect Kakkarbhitta in the east with Gaddachauki in the west passing through the business hubs of the Tarai. A feasibility study held by RITES India has estimated the project’s cost at Rs 800 billion.
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