Back on track: Nepal rebuilds its passenger railway

Back on track: Nepal rebuilds its passenger railway

Janakpur, Nepal
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Shrubs spring up around a rusted train engine in southeast Nepal, with carriages propped up on bricks and tall grass growing over abandoned wheels in mute testimony to years of neglect suffered by an abandoned railway line.

First built as a cargo line to carry wood from Nepal to India in 1937, it was once the lifeblood of the community in Janakpur, running 29 km (18 miles) from Jainagar in India's neighbouring eastern state of Bihar.

. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

The train service, which eventually became a cheap way for travellers to cross the international border, closed in January 2014 for a $100-million project to upgrade the colonial-era narrow rail track into a broad-gauge line.

. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Now the only sign of life is laughing children, who chase each other through the disintegrating carriages, climbing on rusting benches and tumbling over one another.

But the closure hit Janakpur hard, with close to 130 railway employees losing their jobs, said Tula Bahadur Dangi, acting general manager of Nepal Railway Corporation, who has worked for the company for 18 years.

. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Travellers have been forced to use buses instead, paying three times the price of a train ticket for a journey four times as long, which is complicated further during the monsoon rains that make the roads muddy.

Other trades dependent on the railway have also suffered.

"There is no business now, compared to when there was a train," lamented Rajendra Kushwaha, who ran a bookstall at Janakpur railway station for 45 years.

. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

The revamp of the railway, set to be completed next March, presents clear signs of renewal and the improvements to come.

Construction is nearly 80 percent complete, with stations and bridges built, and land levelled to lay tracks, extending the track to Bardibas in the north, a distance of 69 km (43 miles) away, with a total of 14 stations on the route.

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Slideshow

Plants grow on the abandoned train at the workshop of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Plants grow on the abandoned train at the workshop of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd.

Machines used to repair trains are pictured at the deserted workshop of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Machines used to repair trains are pictured at the deserted workshop of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd.

Rucksacks hang on the wall of the ticket office at Janakpur railway station.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Rucksacks hang on the wall of the ticket office at Janakpur railway station.

Sita Sharan Yadav, 54, a cashier for Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd., does paper work in his room.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Sita Sharan Yadav, 54, a cashier for Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd., does paper work in his room.

Tula Bahadur Dangi, 49, acting general manager of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd., sits inside his quarters, in Janakpur.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Tula Bahadur Dangi, 49, acting general manager of Nepal Railways Corporation Ltd., sits inside his quarters, in Janakpur.

An Indian labourer works on part of a bridge for the new railway.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

An Indian labourer works on part of a bridge for the new railway.

Labourers wash themselves after working on the construction of a bridge for the new railway.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Labourers wash themselves after working on the construction of a bridge for the new railway.

Labourer works on the drainage line at the newly constructed Jainagar railway station.
. Jainagar, India. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Labourer works on the drainage line at the newly constructed Jainagar railway station.

Labourers work on the construction of a bridge for the new railway.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Labourers work on the construction of a bridge for the new railway.

A woman stands in front of the new staff quarters built for the railway employees at Jainagar railway station.
. Jainagar, India. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

A woman stands in front of the new staff quarters built for the railway employees at Jainagar railway station.

A labourer is silhouetted as he works to build a bridge for the new railway.
. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

A labourer is silhouetted as he works to build a bridge for the new railway.

The expansion will create 350 jobs, Dangi said, complete with plans for a museum to showcase the old German-made abandoned carriages and engines.

The expanded route would also make it easier for tourists to visit the Ram Janaki temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which devout Hindus believe to be the birthplace of the goddess Sita.

. Janakpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Completion can't come quickly enough for Rafid Kabadi, who drove trains on the old line for 25 years, the third generation of his family in the job.

"I am sad the train stopped, but happy the new one is coming," he said, standing before a rusted carriage with his grandson.

Writing by Karishma Singh

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