The government has said that a detailed project report of the much talked about Kathmandu-Kerung Railway project would be completed in the next six months.

Addressing the session titled ‘Transport Infrastructure: Building Sustainable Transport Infrastructure,’ Raghubir Mahaseth, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport said the government would start finalising the process of detailed project report (DPR) in the next week.

“The government has considered building transport infrastructure in its priority list,” he said.

The cross-border railway is one of the most ambitious projects Nepal and China have been working on, completion of which, the Nepali side believes, will massively enhance its connectivity to the northern neighbour, bringing an end to the landlocked country’s one-country dependence for third country trade.

The Chinese side conducted the pre-feasibility study of the 121-km railway in December last year. China First Survey and Design Institute had conducted the pre-feasibility study.

“We have planned to complete the DPR of both Kathmandu-Kerung and Kathmandu-Raxaul projects within a year,” Mahaseth said.

Mahaseth also informed that the government has finalised the DPR of the East-West Railway Project. The 1,100 km long East-West Railway Line is estimated to cost Rs 69.52 billion. Likewise, the government has also started a pre-feasibility study of Kathmandu-Pokhara and Mugling-Lumbini railway projects, as per the ministry.

Speaking at the session, Wang Lijie, deputy general manager of China Railway International Group, said China has identified the cross-border railway connectivity project with Nepal as a high priority.

He said the Chinese side is also conducting a feasibility study of the railway line that connects Shigatse of Tibet to Kathmandu. According to him, China built a railway line connecting Shigatse to other parts of China in 2006.