KATHMANDU: In Nepalgunj, one of the major cities of Western Nepal, the construction of a new well-equipped terminal building at Ranjha Airport and the extension of the broad-gauge railway line along with a new railway station at Rupaidiha, the bordering market connected to Nepalgunj, have been completed simultaneously.

The new and well-equipped structures for air and railway services constructed in Nepalgunj and Rupaidiha will benefit citizens of both countries at the same time.

Large numbers of Indian religious tourists often visit Nepal’s tourist destinations, including Kailash Manasarovar located in Tibet, China; Pashupatinath in Kathmandu; and Muktinath Temple in Mustang district, entering through the Nepalgunj border, while Nepali citizens travel through the Nepalgunj border to visit holy sites in India like Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Haridwar.

Due to the open border, citizens of Nepal and India have been moving freely between various locations in both countries for employment, higher education, medical treatment, and business, as well as for visiting religious sites.

Grand terminal at Ranjha

The construction of the new well-equipped terminal building at Nepalgunj’s Ranjha Airport has been completed about one month ahead of the scheduled time. Sharma and Company, Kathmandu, completed the terminal building construction at a total cost of Rs 2.74 billion.

Project Chief Nal Bikram Thapa stated that preparations are underway for the construction company to hand over the newly constructed terminal building to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal on Friday.

The construction company, which started work from around January 2023, had aimed to complete the terminal building construction in three years, specifically by January 2026.

The newly constructed terminal building is three stories high, including a semi-basement. The building’s basement is designed to be used both as a passenger area and for commercial purposes.

Project Chief Thapa stated that the design allows the basement area to be used for commercial purposes during low passenger traffic and converted back to a passenger area by reducing the commercial space when passenger traffic increases.

The terminal building is spread over an area of 5,075 square meters. Inside the building, there are 14 airline check-in counters, three VIP lounges, and well-equipped restrooms built at 10 different locations, providing facilities for 130 people at a time.

Nepalgunj Airport. Photo: Krishna Adhikari

The terminal building is designed to accommodate the necessary immigration, customs, and quarantine check-in rooms required to start international flights to cities in neighboring countries, including Delhi, India, from Nepalgunj Airport in the coming days. The new terminal building has a passenger capacity of approximately 628 per hour.

Inside the new terminal building, a garden has been constructed along with roads that are 5 to 14 meters wide. Drainage and canals have been constructed within the terminal building premises to ensure easy water drainage even during excessive rainfall and floods.

An additional apron area (aircraft parking space) has also been constructed in the new terminal building area of Nepalgunj Airport. Binod Subedi, a representative of the construction company, stated that the additional apron can accommodate three ATR-72 aircraft or five Twin Otter aircraft simultaneously.

Similarly, vehicle parking on the terminal building premises has been further expanded and organized. According to the Nepalgunj Airport Office, infrastructure has been built in the parking area for 155 motorcycles and 10 EV charging stations.

A parking lot has been built to accommodate 102 small four-wheeled vehicles, five buses, and 30 three-wheeled auto-rickshaws. Restrooms have also been built in the parking area. A garden spanning an area of approximately 9,000 square meters has been created in front of the terminal building.

Project Chief Thapa states that since the airport is directly connected to the country’s identity, special attention was paid to convenience and beauty during the construction of the terminal building. He argues that this will not only contribute to the prosperity of Nepal but will also benefit citizens of both Nepal and India. He says, “It will be easier for citizens to travel from India to Rupaidiha by train and then fly from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu. This benefits both countries.’

Nepalgunj Airport is the main airport in Western Nepal. Regular and charter flights operate from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu, Pokhara, and the mountainous districts of the Karnali Province. Approximately 10 percent of the passengers on flights from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu and Pokhara are Indian citizens. In recent days, there is an average of 20 daily flights from Nepalgunj. Around 1,500 passengers travel through the airport daily.

In recent days, the number of tourists visiting Kailash Manasarovar via Nepalgunj Airport has been increasing. The number of Indian tourists who travel from Nepalgunj Airport to Simkot in Humla and then proceed via Hilsa by land route through Taklakot to visit Kailash Manasarovar has been increasing from April to October.

Last year, approximately 4,000 Indian tourists traveled from Nepalgunj Airport to Simkot in Humla and then proceeded via Hilsa by land route through Taklakot to visit Kailash Manasarovar.

Rupaidiha Railway Junction. Photo: Krishna Adhikari

Since last year, Indian tourists have also been arriving at Nepalgunj Airport for pilgrimage and sightseeing at Kailash Manasarovar via charter flights directly from the airport. Last year, approximately 5,200 Indian tourists had the aerial sightseeing of Kailash Manasarovar via a Shree Air charter flight lasting about 1 hour 15 minutes from Nepalgunj Airport.

Tourists have been performing the aerial sightseeing of Kailash Manasarovar via charter flights from around October to March. During festivals like Shivaratri, there are up to 4-5 charter flights per day from Nepalgunj Airport. Badri Koirala, General Manager of Hotel Siddhartha Nepalgunj, stated that the construction of the new terminal building at Nepalgunj Airport will significantly contribute to the promotion of tourism in Western Nepal.

Having sufficient space for passengers to sit, have snacks, and shop right inside the terminal building will help promote tourism overall.

The airport, which started operation in Khajura, Banke, in 1961, was shifted to Ranjha, Nepalgunj, and started operation in 1980. Before road transport access was extended to the hilly districts of Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces, Nepalgunj Airport served as the main lifeline of Western Nepal.

With the country transitioning into a federal structure, the construction of the new terminal building has further excited the residents of Nepalgunj, a region that was lagging behind. In recent years, the airport has seen expansions and added facilities. The airport’s runway has been extended from 1,500 meters to 1,700 meters. Runway lights, overlays, and aprons have also been constructed.

While the construction of most projects started by the Government of Nepal often faces problems like cost overruns and public inconvenience due to delays, Sharma and Company and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal have sent a message that projects can be completed on time in Nepal by finishing the construction about one and a half months ahead of the determined schedule.

Broad-gauge railway line in Rupaidiha

The broad-gauge railway service has been extended to Rupaidiha, the Indian border market connected to Nepalgunj. With the extension of the broad-gauge railway service, new structures, including a new railway station building and three platforms, have been constructed in Rupaidiha. The broad gauge and electricity lines have been extended for approximately 55 kilometers from Rupaidiha to Bahraich. The new railway station building and broad gauge railway line were constructed at a cost of approximately INR 3.42 billion.

A railway department team conducted the CRS (Commission of Railway Safety) inspection of the broad gauge railway line on October 5, 2025, and has provided the certificate. During the testing, the train service was successfully operated at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour from Rupaidiha to Nanpara. Since the work to demolish the narrow gauge structure and extend the broad gauge line began, the railway service that had been running from Rupaidiha to Bahraich for 137 years has been closed since 2023.

Mani Ram Sharma, a journalist in Rupaidiha, stated that preparations are underway to start the railway service from Rupaidiha beginning in January 2026 (New Year 2026). He added that passengers will benefit from every perspective, as railway travel is easier, safer, cheaper, and faster than bus travel.

He also mentioned that the Department of Railway is preparing to start express and passenger services from Rupaidiha to Gorakhpur, as well as to Indian pilgrimage sites like Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Haridwar in the first phase. Approximately 50 percent of the passengers on bus and railway services operating from Rupaidiha to various Indian cities are Nepali citizens.

When the broad gauge railway service starts from Rupaidiha, Nepali passengers traveling to various cities in India will benefit. In 1886, the British rulers in India constructed the railway and road up to the border market of Nepalgunj and named it Nepalgunj Road. Journalist Sharma stated that the capacity of the new, well-equipped railway station built in Rupaidiha allows for approximately 1,000 passengers to travel through at a time.

Large numbers of Nepali devotees travel every year to visit the holy sites in India. Hindu devotees in both Nepal and India travel to major pilgrimage sites in both countries.

The Indian religious tourists traveling from various cities in India via the Rupaidiha-Nepalgunj border to visit Kailash Manasarovar (the major pilgrimage site for Hindus located in Tibet, China), Pashupatinath, and Muktinath are excited by the news that the broad gauge railway service extended to the border market of Rupaidiha and the well-equipped terminal built at Nepalgunj Airport will be operational.

Similarly, Shri Ram Sigdel, a tourism entrepreneur, stated that Nepali people traveling from various cities in Nepal via the Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha border to visit major Indian pilgrimage sites like Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Haridwar, as well as those traveling to Indian cities like Lucknow, Delhi, and Mumbai for medical treatment, education, and employment, will benefit.

Suresh Kumar Madeshiya, former coordinator of the Nepal-India Joint Journalists Forum Rupaidiha, stated that work is underway to construct structures, including a goods shed, with the goal of starting passenger service in the first phase and freight service in the second phase. Krishna Prasad Shrestha, former president of the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that if freight railway service starts up to Rupaidiha, the transport of goods imported from India and third countries will become easier and cheaper, which will positively impact industries and businesses in Nepalgunj.

Demand for railway service extension to Kohalpur from Rupaidiha

Following the extension of the broad-gauge railway service to Rupaidiha, the Indian border market connected to Nepalgunj, residents of Nepalgunj have demanded that the Government of Nepal start work on extending the railway line from Rupaidiha to Kohalpur in Banke.

On April 28, 2018, North Eastern Railway Headquarters, Gorakhpur, India, prepared and submitted a preliminary map to Nepal for the railway line extension from Rupaidiha to Kohalpur in Banke.

A technical team from RK Techno Consultancy, deployed by North Eastern Railway Headquarters Gorakhpur, including engineer Santosh Tripathi, conducted a survey for the railway line extension from Rupaidiha, India, to Kohalpur, Nepal, from March 14, 2026, to late March/early April.

Although seven years have passed since the survey team completed the survey of the approximately 16.5-kilometer area from the border of Rupaidiha to Balegaon, Puraina, and Puraini, crossing the Nepalgunj-Kohalpur road south of Nepalgunj’s Ranjha Airport, and continuing through Nayabasti to Kohalpur, and submitted the preliminary map to the Government of Nepal, construction has not even started.

Former president Shrestha of the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Government of Nepal to immediately arrange for the start of the railway line extension work from Rupaidiha to Kohalpur in Banke.

North Eastern Railway Headquarters, Gorakhpur, has prepared the map by marking a 40-meter-wide area, 20 meters on each side from the center, for the railway line extension.

Ram Janam, the then Chief Engineer of Northeast Railway, Gorakhpur, submitted the report, including the preliminary survey map, to the District Administration Office, Banke, and the Department of Railway, Kathmandu.

Immediately after receiving the report, the District Administration Office, Banke, determined the market price of the land in the railway line extension area to be from Rs 500,000 to Rs 6 million per katha.

The survey was conducted with the goal of extending a single-line railway service from Rupaidiha to Kohalpur. A railway junction will be constructed at Puraini, approximately 8 kilometers along the 16.5-kilometer-long railway line from Rupaidiha to Kohalpur. Although the railway service was extended to Rupaidiha, India, in 1886, the plan is to extend the railway service from Rupaidiha through Nepalgunj to Kohalpur.

If the railway service is extended from Rupaidiha through Nepalgunj to Kohalpur, the residents of Nepalgunj and Western Nepal will benefit further.