Railway Ordinance: Prez clears deck for Railway Board
KATHMANDU, APR 22 -
President Ram Baran Yadav endorsed the Railway Ordinance on Sunday, clearing the deck for forming the Railway Board, an autonomous body for development of the railway sector in the country. The board will develop, expand, operate and manage the sector.
President Yadav certified the ordinance in accordance with the Article 88 Sub-article 1 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007. The ordinace enacted the Railway Act which is the amendment to the Railway Act 1963. The board to be chaired by the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport will make policy level decisions for the railway sector in close collaboration with the government authorities.
“There will be a new legal base for the railway sector which is in initial phase of the railway infrastructure development,” said Yogendra Rai, director general at the Department of Railways. He said that the Act would help speed up works for construction as the government was planning to carry out big railway projects.
The government is currently working on railway plans like Mechi Mahakali Electrical Project, Metro Rail in the Kathmandu valley and cross-border railway links with India. Laws related to the railway service have not been updated since the time of the Nepal Government Railway in the mid 1960s.
According to the Physical Infrastructure Ministry, the Department of Railways would be transformed into the Railway Board. Earlier, despite lack of proper legal framework, the government had formed the Department Railways, signed an agreement with India to build five cross-border rail links and expedited a detailed project report study of Mechi-Mahakali railway .
The government has also been considering carrying out a feasibility study on North-South railway links with a target to connect two neighbouring countries—India and China—as part of Trans-Asia Railway Network. In December 2011, Nepal had agreed to be a part of the railway network that will connect the country with railway networks in Europe, enabling uninterrupted movement of people and goods.
Experts said the new act and autonomous body would fast track railway works. “Roads have put other mode of transport in shadow,” said Lal Krishna KC, a transport sector expert. He said that it had been necessary to give railway interconnection to road networks like East-West Highway and North-South roads devising an integrated transport sector development plan.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
