Nepal gets its first modern train tracks

SUMMARY

The competition between two Asian giants, India and China, for influence over tiny Nepal is yielding a bonanza in the form of the Himalayan mountain nation's first modern railway. New shiny rails connecting Janakpur in southeastern Nepal and Jay Nagar in Bihar are raising hopes for more business and pilgrimages as millions of Hindu devotees travel every year to the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur, where the Hindu goddess Sita is believed to have been born.

By APDec 14, 2018 10:58:47 AM IST (Updated)

Nepalese construction laborers work at the terminal train station at Kurtha near Janakpur, Nepal from where a new rail line connects to Jay Nagar in Bihar. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A Nepalese man carrying his bicycle crosses train tracks at Kurtha. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepalese construction laborers work at the terminal train station at Kurtha. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepalese construction laborers work at the terminal train station at Kurtha. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Elderly men watch the construction of Janakpur train station at Janakpur. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

An old train engine is seen next to the newly built train tracks. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

An Indian artist paints a wall with traditional Mithila art at the newly built Janakpur train station. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A man rides his bicycle in front of the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur, Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Indian pilgrims visit the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur, Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)