KATHMANDU, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nepal and India has agreed to extend cooperation in the railway sector, including in the capacity building and training of Nepali railway personnel as the Himalayan country prepares to resume passenger railway services, Indian embassy in Nepal said Friday.
The Nepali government is preparing to resume the passenger railway services on a cross-border railway line that connects the bordering Kurtha area of Nepal and the bordering Indian town Jogbani after a hiatus of seven years.
After this 34-km long railway line was upgraded to broad-gauge from narrow-gauge line last year, the Nepali government in September this year purchased two Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit rail sets, which have remained unused currently in the absence of necessary human resources in Nepal.
In the meeting of the joint working group on railway services headed by joint secretary level officials of both countries on Friday, the two sides discussed extending cooperation on railways.
"Both sides discussed the technical preparedness of Kurtha-Jayanagar railway line for the purpose of running passenger train services, including the Standard Operating Procedures that need to be put in place for resumption of passenger train services," the Indian embassy said in a press statement.
Once the railway service resumes, it will be the first broad gauge railway service operating in Nepal.
In order to resume railway service, Nepal's Department of Railway has initiated the process of hiring necessary staff of 200. The department said that it is also hiring 26 Indian staff mostly from technical backgrounds in the areas of driving, maintenance, signaling and track engineering to start the service. Enditem
