george matthews wrote:There has been a tv programme shown on BBC about this metre gauge line - connecting India and Nepal. Clearly it has run only by really basic maintenance and repair by the employees. They were paid only sporadically and the trains also ran sporadically, according to the state of the single remaining locomotive and whether the track was considered fit for use. Derailments were quite common, though usually rerailments could be achieved by workers on the train assisted by passengers. It was not always possible to extract fares from passengers many of whom evaded payments. The line was busy and the daily train attracted many pilgrims to a famous Hindu temple in Nepal. Possibly many of the pilgrims tried to travel for free.
I think the last news was that the line has closed with the promise of being replaced by a Broad gauge line connecting with the main Indian system. Whether this has been built is unknown to me.
The BBC program is what I linked to on You Tube.
Looking at google earth , it appears the earth works are done for the new line , but no track or bridges. There are questions as to where all the money allocated to it have gone.
I can't find a link to the article regarding the missing money , but this one says the line will be open in 6 months.
https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/jan ... sume-soon/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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The only train trips I regret are the ones I didn't take.