Even as Western economies collapse into rubble, as a result of self-inflicted policies, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative’s railroad-building keeps laying the basis for a new World Development Paradigm.
The Dec. 22 Global Times, in an article “China-Nepal Railway to be a Game-Changer, Transform Nepal from Landlocked to Landlinked,” reports on the China-Nepal Railway, which will be completed within 42 months of the start of the detailed feasibility study, which began in December 2022; thus, by early 2026. The railway will link Lasha, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, within its first phase. Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the Prime Minister of Nepal, approved the final plans for the Chinese construction of the rail line in July 2024.
The rail line first starts out in Lhasa and traverses to Shigatse (Xigaze), also in Tibet, a distance of 250 kilometers (150 miles), which line has already been constructed. It then proceeds to Kerung (Kyirong), which is also in Tibet, a distance of approximately 350 kilometers, which is presently under construction. The last part is from Kerung across the China-Nepal border to Nepal’s Kathmandu, another 72 km, and upon which construction will start in early 2026. The cost of the Nepalese section of the railway will be between $2.7 and $5.5 billion.
The construction of the China-Nepal railway is being implemented in what is called, “The Roof of the World,” high up in the snow-capped Himalaya Mountains. The elevation of Lhasa is 3,650 meters (11,975 feet) above sea level, and the elevation of Kathmandu is 1,400 meters (4,600 feet). The construction of the rail line so high up requires advanced engineering expertise, specialized equipment for tunneling and bridge construction, highly adapted trains designed for steep gradients, extensive geological surveys, and so forth. It is an amazing engineering feat.
The China-Nepal railway will break the isolation of Lhasa and Kathmandu, lead to economic development, and integrate both Tibet and Nepal into the world.
The nation of India, which has strong political influence in Nepal and powerful linguistic and cultural ties, has not raised much protest against China building the railway to Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu. Why? Because India is planning to construct the proposed cross-border Raxaul-Kathmandu railway, which will start in Kathmandu and cross westward into Raxaul, India, a line that is 130 kilometers (81 miles) long. From Raxaul, there is a 971-kilometer-long railway to New Delhi. From there, one can travel westward and, were some specific railroads built, through Central Asia to Europe.
China would connect this railroad from Lhasa, going eastward across China to the Pacific Ocean.
This would be one of the one of the World Landbridge railroad systems, going through the “Roof of the World.” The World Landbridge moves forward.
