Let’s welcome the Train
The initial study for construction of Kerung-Kathmandu railway route in collaboration with neighbouring China has been completed. The report concludes that railway line linking the Chinese border town of Kerung with Kathmandu would be accomplished in nine years with State’s investment if the government invests Rs 28.55 billion every year. Rs 257 billion is estimated to construct 72.25 km railway, according to senior divisional engineer Prakash Bhakta Upadhyaya of Department of Railways. “Rs 3.55 billion is needed to develop per kilometre of the railway”.
In the course of my participation in talk program entitled “Belt and Road Initiative: Prioritising Development over Geopolitics” organized by Madan Bhandari foundation with Prof Dai Yong Hong from Sichuan University as the Speaker. The talk program highlights different issues related to BRI including the recent report’s estimated timeframe of Kerung-Kathmandu railway. Some participants from policy schools express pessimist viewpoint claiming that ‘nine years’ of time is too much while others experts from engineering field take the estimated time as very short, given the geographical complexities of the country.
The railway construction from Kathmandu to Kerung is very challenging but not impossible if both governments work in consensus with full determination. Some specifics in the report point that both governments have to contemplate over major technical and financial hurdles before considering to filalize the project. Owing to complex geographical structure, as evident in a primary report submitted by China Railway First Survey and Design institute, 98.55 precent of the railway should pass through either tunnel or bridge.
Tunnel ways are usually considered to be one of the most challenging construction projects in the world. Requiring bespoken high tech machinery and a large quantity of the skilled human resource to penetrate virgin hills, tunnelling projects often demand an abundance of investment as well as time. Engineers usually encounter plenty of geotechnical challenges that call for innovative solutions entailed with practical executions.
According to a confidential feasibility study by a Chinese firm, complex geographical topography and laborious engineering workload will become major obstacles in building a cross-border railway. The railway track which has to inroad through rocky Mountains would demand excellent construction plan and high tech engineering. With an objective to join the tracks to the Kathmandu section, the engineers would construct ramps along the northern and southern slopes leading to Lake Paiku, near Kerung. Those ramps are expected to mitigate the huge difference in elevation between northern and southern hoof of the mountains.
Engineering projects by their very nature bring unique challenges to overcome, but designed to accommodate utilities, including policy coordination during the planning process, and minimizing construction impacts are challenges that have to be managed on almost every project. In this critical phase of initiating such a big railway project, Nepal should consider learning from similar projects done by other countries. Gotthard base tunnel opened in June 2016 can be the best sample case for Nepal. For more that decade hundreds of workers faced tropical temperatures underground and the risk of water in the rock to build one of the longest rail tunnel stretching at 57 km across the Swiss Alps. The tunnel which cost $12-billion (U.S.) and 17 years of continuous work to complete in estimated time. With the involvement of more than 2,600 people in a construction project, 80% excavation work done by boring machines and 20% by blasting, the project remains as the best example of engineering success despite geographical obstacles. Now Gotthard Base tunnel allow trains to travel up to a top speed of 250 km/h and also license heavy loaded trains to pass through the transalpine route. With a maximum depth of 2,450 m, the tunnel is also the deepest of its kind in the whole world. In regard to the completion of the Gotthard tunnel, Nepal can also hope to witness the Chinese train inroading Kathmandu via well engineered tunnel or may be a bridge.
The doomed history of many development projects initiated by the Nepal government questions over our potential to complete such a complex engineering venture. The series of incomplete projects has cultivated a kind of pessimist mentality in Nepali public and policy makers. Melamchi drinking water project is still under construction which began before 18 years with the aim to complete within five years; Ring road expansion project initiated before four years with the objective to complete in two years is still under construction. Likewise, the work of Lumbini International Airport or the construction of Pokhara International Air Force site has not been seen in adequate motion. Most of the big projects in Nepal have faced the common fate of doubled time and investment. The government has not even been able to mend the ditches or repaint Zebra crossing in the metropolitan road. Amid such context how can people remain optimistic to completion of Project that gets estimated nine years in the paper?
However, there exist two dominant schools of time management in regard to big projects. The first is to set a project and hope it ends in time. The second is to forestall as many complications ahead and estimate the budget and time accordingly. When you start the project after solving all likely problems, then the project will motion at a constant pace. Additionally Nepalese public should stop discouraging government by questioning over its past failures andThe initial study for construction of Kerung-Kathmandu railway route in collaboration with neighbouring China has been completed. The report concludes that railway line linking the Chinese border town of Kerung with Kathmandu would be accomplished in nine years with State’s investment if the government invests Rs 28.55 billion every year. Rs 257 billion is estimated to construct 72.25 km railway, according to senior divisional engineer Prakash Bhakta Upadhyaya of Department of Railways. “Rs 3.55 billion is needed to develop per kilometre of the railway”.
In the course of my participation in talk program entitled “Belt and Road Initiative: Prioritising Development over Geopolitics” organized by Madan Bhandari foundation with Prof Dai Yong Hong from Sichuan University as the Speaker. The talk program highlights different issues related to BRI including the recent report’s estimated timeframe of Kerung-Kathmandu railway. Some participants from policy schools express pessimist viewpoint claiming that ‘nine years’ of time is too much while others experts from engineering field take the estimated time as very short, given the geographical complexities of the country.
The railway construction from Kathmandu to Kerung is very challenging but not impossible if both governments work in consensus with full determination. Some specifics in the report point that both governments have to contemplate over major technical and financial hurdles before considering to filalize the project. Owing to complex geographical structure, as evident in a primary report submitted by China Railway First Survey and Design institute, 98.55 precent of the railway should pass through either tunnel or bridge.
Tunnel ways are usually considered to be one of the most challenging construction projects in the world. Requiring bespoken high tech machinery and a large quantity of the skilled human resource to penetrate virgin hills, tunnelling projects often demand an abundance of investment as well as time. Engineers usually encounter plenty of geotechnical challenges that call for innovative solutions entailed with practical executions.
According to a confidential feasibility study by a Chinese firm, complex geographical topography and laborious engineering workload will become major obstacles in building a cross-border railway. The railway track which has to inroad through rocky Mountains would demand excellent construction plan and high tech engineering. With an objective to join the tracks to the Kathmandu section, the engineers would construct ramps along the northern and southern slopes leading to Lake Paiku, near Kerung. Those ramps are expected to mitigate the huge difference in elevation between northern and southern hoof of the mountains.
Engineering projects by their very nature bring unique challenges to overcome, but designed to accommodate utilities, including policy coordination during the planning process, and minimizing construction impacts are challenges that have to be managed on almost every project. In this critical phase of initiating such a big railway project, Nepal should consider learning from similar projects done by other countries. Gotthard base tunnel opened in June 2016 can be the best sample case for Nepal. For more that decade hundreds of workers faced tropical temperatures underground and the risk of water in the rock to build one of the longest rail tunnel stretching at 57 km across the Swiss Alps. The tunnel which cost $12-billion (U.S.) and 17 years of continuous work to complete in estimated time. With the involvement of more than 2,600 people in a construction project, 80% excavation work done by boring machines and 20% by blasting, the project remains as the best example of engineering success despite geographical obstacles. Now Gotthard Base tunnel allow trains to travel up to a top speed of 250 km/h and also license heavy loaded trains to pass through the transalpine route. With a maximum depth of 2,450 m, the tunnel is also the deepest of its kind in the whole world. In regard to the completion of the Gotthard tunnel, Nepal can also hope to witness the Chinese train inroading Kathmandu via well engineered tunnel or may be a bridge.
The doomed history of many development projects initiated by the Nepal government questions over our potential to complete such a complex engineering venture. The series of incomplete projects has cultivated a kind of pessimist mentality in Nepali public and policy makers. Melamchi drinking water project is still under construction which began before 18 years with the aim to complete within five years; Ring road expansion project initiated before four years with the objective to complete in two years is still under construction. Likewise, the work of Lumbini International Airport or the construction of Pokhara International Air Force site has not been seen in adequate motion. Most of the big projects in Nepal have faced the common fate of doubled time and investment. The government has not even been able to mend the ditches or repaint Zebra crossing in the metropolitan road. Amid such context how can people remain optimistic to completion of Project that gets estimated nine years in the paper?
However, there exist two dominant schools of time management in regard to big projects. The first is to set a project and hope it ends in time. The second is to forestall as many complications ahead and estimate the budget and time accordingly. When you start the project after solving all likely problems, then the project will motion at a constant pace. Additionally Nepalese public should stop discouraging government by questioning over its past failures andThe initial study for construction of Kerung-Kathmandu railway route in collaboration with neighbouring China has been completed. The report concludes that railway line linking the Chinese border town of Kerung with Kathmandu would be accomplished in nine years with State’s investment if the government invests Rs 28.55 billion every year. Rs 257 billion is estimated to construct 72.25 km railway, according to senior divisional engineer Prakash Bhakta Upadhyaya of Department of Railways. “Rs 3.55 billion is needed to develop per kilometre of the railway”.
In the course of my participation in talk program entitled “Belt and Road Initiative: Prioritising Development over Geopolitics” organized by Madan Bhandari foundation with Prof Dai Yong Hong from Sichuan University as the Speaker. The talk program highlights different issues related to BRI including the recent report’s estimated timeframe of Kerung-Kathmandu railway. Some participants from policy schools express pessimist viewpoint claiming that ‘nine years’ of time is too much while others experts from engineering field take the estimated time as very short, given the geographical complexities of the country.
The railway construction from Kathmandu to Kerung is very challenging but not impossible if both governments work in consensus with full determination. Some specifics in the report point that both governments have to contemplate over major technical and financial hurdles before considering to filalize the project. Owing to complex geographical structure, as evident in a primary report submitted by China Railway First Survey and Design institute, 98.55 precent of the railway should pass through either tunnel or bridge.
Tunnel ways are usually considered to be one of the most challenging construction projects in the world. Requiring bespoken high tech machinery and a large quantity of the skilled human resource to penetrate virgin hills, tunnelling projects often demand an abundance of investment as well as time. Engineers usually encounter plenty of geotechnical challenges that call for innovative solutions entailed with practical executions.
According to a confidential feasibility study by a Chinese firm, complex geographical topography and laborious engineering workload will become major obstacles in building a cross-border railway. The railway track which has to inroad through rocky Mountains would demand excellent construction plan and high tech engineering. With an objective to join the tracks to the Kathmandu section, the engineers would construct ramps along the northern and southern slopes leading to Lake Paiku, near Kerung. Those ramps are expected to mitigate the huge difference in elevation between northern and southern hoof of the mountains.
Engineering projects by their very nature bring unique challenges to overcome, but designed to accommodate utilities, including policy coordination during the planning process, and minimizing construction impacts are challenges that have to be managed on almost every project. In this critical phase of initiating such a big railway project, Nepal should consider learning from similar projects done by other countries. Gotthard base tunnel opened in June 2016 can be the best sample case for Nepal. For more that decade hundreds of workers faced tropical temperatures underground and the risk of water in the rock to build one of the longest rail tunnel stretching at 57 km across the Swiss Alps. The tunnel which cost $12-billion (U.S.) and 17 years of continuous work to complete in estimated time. With the involvement of more than 2,600 people in a construction project, 80% excavation work done by boring machines and 20% by blasting, the project remains as the best example of engineering success despite geographical obstacles. Now Gotthard Base tunnel allow trains to travel up to a top speed of 250 km/h and also license heavy loaded trains to pass through the transalpine route. With a maximum depth of 2,450 m, the tunnel is also the deepest of its kind in the whole world. In regard to the completion of the Gotthard tunnel, Nepal can also hope to witness the Chinese train inroading Kathmandu via well engineered tunnel or may be a bridge.
The doomed history of many development projects initiated by the Nepal government questions over our potential to complete such a complex engineering venture. The series of incomplete projects has cultivated a kind of pessimist mentality in Nepali public and policy makers. Melamchi drinking water project is still under construction which began before 18 years with the aim to complete within five years; Ring road expansion project initiated before four years with the objective to complete in two years is still under construction. Likewise, the work of Lumbini International Airport or the construction of Pokhara International Air Force site has not been seen in adequate motion. Most of the big projects in Nepal have faced the common fate of doubled time and investment. The government has not even been able to mend the ditches or repaint Zebra crossing in the metropolitan road. Amid such context how can people remain optimistic to completion of Project that gets estimated nine years in the paper?
However, there exist two dominant schools of time management in regard to big projects. The first is to set a project and hope it ends in time. The second is to forestall as many complications ahead and estimate the budget and time accordingly. When you start the project after solving all likely problems, then the project will motion at a constant pace. Additionally Nepalese public should stop discouraging government by questioning over its past failures and change our attitude of Get ‘er done mentality. Because the journey of thousands mile begins with a single step. And in this crucial time, that single step for Nepal government is ‘support from its people’.
Instead of posing very irrational question immediately after some month of declaration like; where is the train, where is the ship? We must give chance to this stable government. We should understand that nine years is not very long period to complete such large scale connectivity project. Instead of counting the days we should start counting those opportunities that the whistling train will bring after nine years. change our attitude of Get ‘er done mentality. Because the journey of thousands mile begins with a single step. And in this crucial time, that single step for Nepal government is ‘support from its people’.
Instead of posing very irrational question immediately after some month of declaration like; where is the train, where is the ship? We must give chance to this stable government. We should understand that nine years is not very long period to complete such large scale connectivity project. Instead of counting the days we should start counting those opportunities that the whistling train will bring after nine years. change our attitude of Get ‘er done mentality. Because the journey of thousands mile begins with a single step. And in this crucial time, that single step for Nepal government is ‘support from its people’.
Instead of posing very irrational question immediately after some month of declaration like; where is the train, where is the ship? We must give chance to this stable government. We should understand that nine years is not very long period to complete such large scale connectivity project. Instead of counting the days we should start counting those opportunities that the whistling train will bring after nine years.
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