Transport in Nepal

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Nepal is a landlocked country where transportation is difficult due to the mountainous terrain. Modern transportation in Nepal has only started in the 20th century.

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Railways were the first type of transport introduced in Nepal by the Nepal Railway Company. The first railway line began in 1927 with the length of 48 kilometres (30 mi) between Amlekhganj and Raxaul (India). [1]

The Government of Nepal has also established many organisations and offices to construct and maintain the roads inside and outside the Kathmandu Valley. [2]

OfficeWork
Batokaj GoswaraConstruction and maintenance of roads inside Kathmandu
Banaune AddaConstruction and maintenance of roads outside Kathmandu
Samajung CompanyRepairs of roads inside Kathmandu valley
Naya Batokaj AddaConstruction of New road outside Kathmandu

The first highway, the Tribhuvan Highway was constructed in November 1952 between Kathmandu and Amlekhganj. The first vehicles (jeeps) were run on this road by Queen Kanti Rajyalaxmi in December 1953, on the fifth day of her marriage. Trucks could only pass through this road 2 years later, around after 1955. [3]

Road

The Statistics of National Highway SNH-2020/21 and Provincial Transport Master Plan (PTMP) guidelines clears that the authority of the National Highway of Nepal resides with the central government and that the other roads has been handed over to provincial governments and local governments. [4] [5]

Administration of roads in Nepal
#GovernmentAdministrative bodyCoordination withType
1Federal government Department of Roads (under MoPIT) National Highway
2Provincial governmentTID or IDD or IDO (under MoPID) DoLI Provincial Highway
3Local governmentMunicipal government DoLI Urban/rural road

Road transport is the country's primary transportation mode. The Economic Survey 2022-23 released by the Ministry of Finance (Nepal), shows that the country had a total road network of national road length of 34,100 km; that only included roads constructed and maintained by the Department of Roads (DoR). This only included the national highway system [6]

Road System Classification [4] [5]
TypeDescriptionAverage
speed limit
NHNational Highways are the major highways connecting Eastern Nepal with Western Nepal, and Southern Nepal with Northern. They are designated by the letters 'NH' followed by a two-digit number.80 kmph
PHProvincial Highways are the highways under provincial governments that run inside the respective provinces. They are designated by the letters 'PH' followed by two letters to designate the Province and then a three-digit number.60 kmph
U/RUrban/Rural roads are roads that reside within the municipality or rural municipality intended to serve within a specific metro, sub-metro, municipality or rural-municipality.40 kmph

National Highways

Rail

The Nepal Government Railway had operated a short narrow gauge railway, from 1927 to 1965. As of 2022, there are two operational railway lines in the country, both of which connect Nepal with India: the Raxaul–Sirsiya and the Jainagar–Janakpur. The former is a 6 km (3.7 mi) line from Raxaul, India to Sirsiya Inland Container Depot (a dry port) near Birgunj, Nepal, and is primarily used for freight transport. [7] It allows container traffic to be imported to Nepal through the Sirsiya dry port container depot. [8] The latter is a 51 km (32 mi) line from Jaynagar, India to Janakpur, Nepal, and is used primarily for passenger transport. [9]

Nepal and India agreed to construct 8 different India–Nepal cross-border rail lines, including the line linking Raxaul with Kathmandu, during Prime Minister K.P. Oli's visit to India. [10] A team of technical officers visited Kathmandu to study the proposed railway from Raxaul to Kathmandu and have stated that a feasibility study of the project would begin. They have already identified Chobhar as the terminus of the 113 km-long line. [11]

The China–Nepal railway is a planned line through Kathmandu, linking the Indian Subcontinent with Lhasa in Tibet. It was proposed by the K.P. Oli government and in November 2017, Chinese media reported the arrival of a delegation of Chinese railway experts in Nepal. They discussed the possibility of a rail connection between China and Nepal. [12] In August 2018, the two sides reached an agreement on construction details of the railway. [13] [14]

Air

There are 53 airports in Nepal as of 2020 out of which 34 are in operation. There are three international airports that serve as aviation hubs: The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, The Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini, and The Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara.

TypePaved
runways		Unpaved
runways
Under 914 m(3000 feet)311
914–1,523 m(3000–5000 feet)71
1,524–2,437 m(5000–8000 feet)10
2,437–3,047 m(8000–10,000 feet)00
Over 3,047 m(over 10,000 feet)10
Total402

Airports redundant and not in operation

Ropeways

The first ropeway to carry cargo was the Halchowk-Lainchour ropeway which was used to transport stones from the quarry to build palaces. [15] The famous Dhorsing-Chisapnai-Chandragiri ropeway passing into Kathmandu was built by Chandra Shamser Rana in 1922. It was upgraded in 1964 to reach to Hetauda with a total length of 42 km with technical and financial assistance from USAID. [16] Following are the types of ropeways based on the operation mechanism and types of transport.

Tar Pul or Ghirlings

Also known as twin, these are rudimentary ropeways used in lieu of bridges to cross rivers. These are generally installed by the local community based on necessity. As of May 2004, there are 25 Tar Pul in Kavre, Gorkha, Myagdi, Udaypur, Chitwan and Lamjung [16]

Tar pul or Ghirling or Tuin Aerial ropeways Nepal Tuin.jpg
Tar pul or Ghirling or Tuin

Gravity Ropeways

A gravity ropeway operates by using potential energy with mechanical power. A weight lowered from a higher elevation lifts the cargo. [17] Ropeways of this type were first used in Mustang to transport apples. Since then they have been installed in four other locations: Gorkha, Tanahun, Kalikot and Achham. [15] Most of the construction ropeways fall in this category.

Cargo Ropeways

Cargo ropeways are used in Nepal to transport goods from one place to another. The first ropeway, Halchowk-Lainchour, was in fact a cargo ropeway. The most famous cargo ropeway was the Kathmandu-Hetauda Ropeway, which is now out of operation.

Kathmandu-Hetauda Cargo Ropeway Deurali Ropeway Station, Fakhel, Nepal.jpg
Kathmandu-Hetauda Cargo Ropeway

Passenger ropeways

Mostly electrically operated, these kinds of ropeways or Cable Cars are used by passengers. The first of this kind was Manakamana Cable Car, established in 1998.

Manakamana Passenger Ropeway Curen tar kebal car nepal.jpg
Manakamana Passenger Ropeway

Water

Nepal is a landlocked country that does not have any territory connected to an ocean. [18]

Nepal's three dry ports are Birgunj, Biratnagar, and Bhairahawa.

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Ropeways in Nepal, which mainly refer to the aerial ropeways, are used for human and cargo transport. In the ‘Nepal Country Report’ of 1976 by the world bank concluded that construction and maintenance of roads in mountainous are costly due to hilly terrain, and thus other means of transport should be studied mainly indicating to the ropeways. However, ropeways have not gained significant popularity over roadways. In the Ninth Five-year Plan ropeway was encouraged with and involvement of the private sector. But no provision in the national budget was made for ropeway development. Nonetheless, private sector has initiated the construction and operation of ropeways mainly in lucrative places such as religious temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Railways (Nepal)</span>

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Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline is a 69 km (43 mi) long trans-border petrolium pipeline between Amlekhgunj Oil Depot in Parsa of Nepal and Motihari of India. This pipeline transports petroleum from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). It is also the first ever trans-national pipeline in the Indian subcontinent. It has an annual capacity of two million metric tonn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanti Highway</span> Highway in Nepal

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References

  1. ↑ "Introduction". Department of railway. 20 Jan 2020. Retrieved 10 Jul 2024.
  2. ↑ "Historical background and events". Department of roads. 2018. Retrieved 10 Jul 2024.
  3. ↑ "नेपालको पहिलो राजमार्ग : सत्तरी वर्षमा 'त्रिभुवन राजपथ'" [First Highway of Nepal: Tribhuvan Highway in 70 years] (in Nepali). Ghatna ra Bichar. 31 Dec 2022. Retrieved 10 Jul 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Provincial Transport Guidelines" (PDF). MoPID (Nepal). Jun 2023. Retrieved 8 Jul 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Statistics of National Highway [SNH 2020-21]". Department of Roads, Nepal. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Economy Survey 2022-23" (PDF). 13 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Nepal Railway Assessment" . Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Introduction". customs.gov.np. Department of Customs dryport office, Government of Nepal. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Indian goods train from Jayanagar arrives in Janakpur".
  10. ↑ "India And Nepal To Speed Up Raxaul-Kathmandu Rail Project". 11 July 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "DoR says land acquisition a major hurdle". www.kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Kantipur Publications. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  12. ↑ 中方铁路代表团赴尼泊尔开展铁路调研 (A team of Chinese railway representatives visit Nepal to initiate a railway study), 2017-11-14
  13. ↑ Giri, A; Giri, S (24 August 2018). "Nepal, China agree on rail study". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  14. ↑ "Nepal in talks with China to build $8 bn cross-border rail link". Times of India. May 14, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-09-01.
  15. 1 2 "Flying in a ropeway over Nepal - Nepali Times" . Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  16. 1 2
  17. ↑ Aerial Ropeways of Nepal (PDF). Practical Action.
  18. ↑ "Transportation in Nepal : Roadways, Airways, Railways, Waterways, Ropeways". ImNepal.com. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2017-11-08.

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