Modi, Deuba to inaugurate India-Nepal train today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba, will virtually inaugurate the Jaynagar-Kurtha railway service between India and Nepal on Saturday. The inauguration will take place at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

Here are more details about the service:

• The service will criss-cross from Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Janakpur, Nepal.
• The railway track of the section is 35 kilometres long and it is the first section of the rail line between the two countries.
• The section was completed last year at ₹619 crore.
• The Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.7km Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link. The link was built under the Modi government's grant assistance of NPR 8.77 billion.
• The remaining portion of the railway line will be built in two phases.
• The new infrastructure was built for broad gauge railway operation by replacing the narrow gauge, which was stopped more than seven years ago.
• According to a report by HT's sister publication Livehindustan on Saturday, the train will run at a speed of 140 km per hour. A total of 1,100 passengers can travel.
• Passengers will have to present a photo ID card for travelling.
• All bogies of the train will have washrooms for passengers, the Livehindustan report further said.
• Out of the total five coaches in the train, one will be an AC coach.
• The Livehindustan report added that the Nepal Railways will charge 60 Nepalese rupees (INR 37.50) for Jaynagar to Janakpur station, and 300 Nepalese rupees (INR 187.50) will be charged for the AC coach.