Kathmandu — After more than a decade of feasibility studies, financing negotiations, and political back-and-forth, Nepal's long-awaited metropolitan rail project officially broke ground on Wednesday in a ceremony at Koteshwor attended by the President and senior cabinet ministers.
The first phase covers a 17-kilometre elevated corridor from Koteshwor to Thankot, with eleven stations. Construction is expected to take four years, with commercial operations targeted for late 2030. The project is being built under a public-private partnership with a South Korean-led consortium that will also train Nepali engineers and technicians.
Traffic congestion in the Kathmandu Valley has worsened steadily over the past decade. Air quality indices regularly breach WHO safe limits, and commuters lose an average of ninety minutes a day stuck in jams. Urban planners say the metro, once complete, could take up to 200,000 car trips off valley roads every day.