March 25: The progress of the proposed East-West Railway, which has been the election agenda since a long time, has remained sluggish. Though the construction work of the railway linking Mechi to Mahakali has started, there has not been any significant progress. Of the proposed 945-kilometre railway, initial works of laying track-bed along 30 km has been completed.    

The government had developed the concept of operating the East-West Railway in 2007. However, the Department of Railways was established only in 2011. According to Aman Chitrakar, senior divisional engineer and spokesperson at the Department of Railways, a 30-km track-bed has been laid along the the Bardibas-Nijgadh section of the East-West Railway.

The foundation on which railway tracks are laid is called track-bed. A total of Rs 11.22 billion including compensation has been spent for the project until now, he said.    

Chitrakar informed that the tracks will be laid after the construction of the track-bed in Kakadbhitta, Jhapa to Gaddachauki, Kanchanpur.

“We too have felt that the progress is significantly slow. Providing compensation is the main problem at present,” he told NBA, adding, “We are trying to make swift progress.”

According to the data provided by Investment Board Nepal, the estimated cost for the railway is USD 3 billion (Rs 330 billion approx). Currently, the government has been allocating Rs 4 billion annually for the expansion of the railway.