Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

Intercity Transport System in and its Implication in National Development

Tara Nidhi BHATTARAI Tulasi Prasad SITAULA Associate Professor Joint Secretary Department of Geology Ministry of Physical Planning and Works Tri-Chandra Campus Tribhuvan University Singha Darabar, Kathmandu, Nepal Fax: +977-1-4211720 Fax: +977-1-5552364 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of transport sector in Nepal followed by an analysis of existing state of intercity road transport, challenges being faced and opportunities ahead. Besides 54 airports and a 53-kilometer long narrow-gauge rail line, there exists 20,138km of road. Majorities of the passengers are opting micro-buses as a suitable mode of intercity transport in short route as it is reliable, faster than buses and inexpensive than air services. In case of long route of more than 300km, despite of time consuming and other uncomfortable situations, passengers use buses as of their first priority as it is inexpensive than air; which forms 2nd priority. The major challenges being faced include ineffective implementation strategy, unable to avoid adverse geological situation, weak local institutional capacity, and inadequate budget allocation. Future opportunity lies in the fact that the country has to develop expressways and railways to meet the development challenges.

Key Words: transport, intercity, development

1. INTRODUCTION

Nepal is a land-locked country situated in the central part of the Himalayas stretching between 26022' and 30027' N latitudes and 80040' and 88012' E longitudes with an altitudinal range from 60m in the south to 8,848m in the north (which also includes Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain peak). The country is bordered by in the east, west and south, and the People‟s Republic of China in the north (Fig. 1). The country is 850 km long (east-west). For administrative purposes, the country is subdivided into five development regions and seventy- five districts. It experiences a wide range of climates varying from the sub-tropical in the south to the alpine type in the north within a span of less than 200 km (north-south). Covering an area of 147,181 km2, Nepal is broadly divided into three ecological regions: the Terai/Churia Range (plain area and low hills, 23% of the total area), the Middle Mountains (42% of the total area) and the High Mountains (35% of the total area) that is made up of five physiographic regions: High Himal, High Mountain, Middle Mountain, Siwalik (the Churia Range), and the Terai. Each of the physiographic and ecologic unit is extended in the east- west direction and has a distinct altitude variation, climatic characteristics and geological history.

Nepal, with an annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at about US$562, is the poorest country in South Asia and the twelfth poorest country in the world. The real GDP Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 growth at producer prices is estimated to be 4.6 % (GoN, 2010). Total population is projected to be 28 Millions and the population density is 192 persons/square km. Poverty is widespread with about 30.9% of the population living below the prescribed poverty line. Only 26% of Nepal's women are literate, compared to 62% of men. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for a majority of the population and more than 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture, which is still the largest sector of the economy, having a share of around 35% of the GDP. About 40% of the population has access to electricity but the gap between urban access (87%) and rural access (27%) is very large. Moreover, the Nepalese are the lowest per capita electricity users in South Asia (about 70 kilowatt-hours per year). The deficiency of electric power is acute resulting more than 50 % of power cut duration during winter.

i

Figure 1 Ecologic zones of Nepal also showing the seventy-five districts

This paper first provides an overview of transport sector followed by road development in Nepal. Discussing existing situation of intercity transport modes and vehicle composition, the paper then analyzes road services available, government's policies and challenges being faced. The paper also provides an account of future opportunity in the transport sector.

2. TRANSPORT SECTOR

The transport sector in Nepal is dominated by the road transport which accounts for almost all domestic passenger and freight movements. Air services contribute to passenger movements to key commercial and tourist destinations and are responsible to transport of passengers and goods into remote areas of Nepal. Contribution of railway, waterways and ropeways in public Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 transportation is almost negligible. The number of intercity passenger across the country was estimated to be about 48 Millions in 2010. Passengers travelling by bus, car/taxi, and air constitute 78 %, 19 % and 3 %, respectively (MPPW, 2010). A brief account of historical background of the transport sector development is presented in the following sections.

2.1 Road Development The first motorable road in Nepal was constructed in the Kathmandu Valley in 1924. In 1929, 42 km long all weather graveled-road between Amlekhganj and Bhimphedi was constructed out side of the Kathmandu Valley. Systematic construction of road was started only after the advent of democracy in 1950. The first long distance road (115km), known as , to link Kathmandu with the southern part of the country (Terai) was taken up in 1953 with Indian assistance and was opened to traffic in 1956. A planned approach of road construction was initiated with the starting of the fist five year plan in 1956. Road construction got high priority in the decade of 1960 to 1970 with significant assistance and contributions from different bilateral donors like India, China, UK, USA and the then USSR etc. Although expansion of road network continued in each five year plans followed after 1956, Nepal is still one of the few countries in the world with a significant proportion of its total population living in areas not served by a motorable road. Current situation is such that up to 40 percent of the population of the hills are more than 4 hours walk away from an all weather motorable road and 13 percent of the Terai population are more than 2 hours walk away from a road. Four district head quarters are yet to be connected with road network. The average road density is 13.7 km/100 square km (Table 1). In terms of serving the population, the average density is 7.2 km/10,000 populations. These areas of poor accessibility are strongly correlated with the incidence of poverty, difficult topography, inadequate budget allocation, and low levels of human development.

Table 1 Extension of road length, influenced population and road density (DoR, 2010) Year Total road Influenced population Road density length (km) (population / km) (km/100 sq.km) 1951 376 21,250 0.3 1962 1,193 7,974 0.8 1970 2,504 4,600 1.7 1980 4,940 2,844 3.4 1990 7,330 2,579 5.0 2000 15,905 1,509 10.8 2010 20,138 1,390 13.7

2.2 Air Service Development Development of air services started in 1955 inaugurating the Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu. Department of Civil Aviation was founded and the grassy runway was transformed into a concrete one in 1957. Royal Nepal Airlines started scheduled services domestically and externally in 1958. Currently, there are 53 domestic airports (5 regional hubs, 43 other domestic and 5 under construction). Of these, air services are operated in 34 airports (GoN, 2010). There is only one international airport in Kathmandu (Table 2). There were 20,27,147 international passengers and 13,77,868 domestic passengers in 2009 (CAAN, 2010).

2.3 Railway Development A narrow gauge railway track (53km long), stretches from Bijalpura of Mahottari district in Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

Nepal to Jayanagar in India, was established by the than East India Company for carrying goods to India specially woods from Nepalese forest in 1937. Later on, it was converted into passenger train.

The country now has the total physical railway line of 57km. Company (NRC), a government agency owns the 53-kilometer narrow-gauge rail line, which is composed of two sections: i) A 32-kilometer section between Jaynagar (India) to Janakpur (Nepal) (Passenger traffic) and ii) A 21-kilometer portion from Janakpur to Bijalpura (not in operation since 2001 due to severely damaged railway bridge over the Bighi River). Currently, the railway is commuting 3 trips carrying an average 3500 people and 60 tons of goods each day.

The manages the six-kilometer long railway line (of which four-kilometer fall in Nepal) that connects Inland Clearance Deport (ICD) in (Nepal) to (India). This is only for goods traffic.

2.4 Ropeway and Waterway There is only one ropeway, known as Manakamana Cable that provides services to pilgrims visiting the famous temple of goddess Manakamana. A few boats and motor boats run by private companies constitute the waterways. The only trolley bus operated in the capital city is not in function now.

Table 2 Existing situation of transport modes Roads Black-topped: 6,304 km , Graveled: 4,832 km and Fair-weather earthen track: (20,138 km) 9,002 km Airports International: 1 , Regional hubs: 5, Other domestic: 43 ( 54 ) and under construction: 5 Railways Jaynagar - Janakpur (passenger traffic): 32km, Janakpur - Bijalpura (currently (57km) not operating ): 21km and Birgunj - Raxaul(goods traffic): 4km Ropeways Manakamana Cable (3km) Waterways Few Boats/ Motor Boats (run by private sector) Trolley bus Not in operation now

3. ROAD SECTOR

In order to administer and manage the development of roads, the road sector is broadly divided into Strategic Road Network (SRN) and Local Road Network (LRN). The SRN is made up of National Highways, Feeder Roads, and strategic Urban Roads. LRN includes District Roads, Village Roads and Agriculture Roads. Currently, there are 15 National Highways and 51 Feeder Roads. The construction and maintenance of the SRN fall on the responsibility of the Department of Road (DoR) and the executing agency is the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW). The LRN comprises of District Road, those Urban Roads not included in SRN, and Village Road, and its responsibility lies with respective Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

District Development Committees / Municipalities / Village Development Committees under the coordination of the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads (DOLIDAR), Ministry of Local Development. There exists 20,138km of road comprising of black-topped 6,304km, graveled 4,832km and fair-weather earthen track 9,002km (Table 2).

3.1 National Highways and Design Parameters The 1,028 km long East-West Highway, which mostly runs across the Terai (flat low land in the southern part of the country) forms the sole transportation artery of the country as the other highways are developed just as a branch of it. There is no motorable access to four district headquarters until now. More than 60 percent of the road network is concentrated in Terai and only 43 percent of the population has access to all-weather roads (World Bank, 2010).

Average width of these highways is 7 m. Prithivi Highway is the widest highway having 7.5m width and the Sindhuli Highways is the narrowest one having only 4.5m in width (Table 3). The only road in the country having 4 lanes is the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Highway being constructed now. Designed maximum speed does not exceed 60 km/hr in majority of the cases. There are only two highways with designed maximum speed of 100 km/hr. The construction cost varies in each highway based mainly on the width of the road, nature of the terrain through which road has to be constructed.

Table 3 Major national highways and design parameters (DoR, 2010) Highways Length Average Designed Completion Construction (km) width Speed year cost /km (m) (km/hr) (US$)** East-West* 1028 7.0 60-100 1985 Tribhuvan 160 7.0 30-60 1967 Arniko*** 113 7.0 40-60 1972 Siddhartha 181 7.0 40-60 1972 Prithivi 174 7.5 50-80 1974 Koshi 192 7.0/5.0 40-60 2010 Banepa- 158 4.5 30-60 1998 to on - 1.75 Million Sindhuli going Mid-hill 1765 7.0 30-60 On-going 0.7 Million Kathmandu- 9.1 14.0 60-100 On-going 2.9 Million Bhaktapur **Based on personal communication with Department of Road (DoR) officials. *Asian Highway (AH02), ***Asian Highway (AH42),

For the year 2010, the annual road expenditure budget was 274 Million US$ that also included annual maintenance expenditure of 18 Million US$. The external fund share for road construction and maintenance was 48 % of the total budget (NPC, 2009)

3.2 Vehicle Population The composition of vehicle consists of bus, minibus, microbus car, jeep, van, tractor, motorcycle, tempo (three-wheeler), truck, dozer, crane, and pick up (Table 4). Of these, the number of motorcycle is at maximum followed by car (including jeep and van), tractor, and truck (including dozer and crane) during last 10 years. The share percentage of number of motorcycle in the total number of vehicles was 57, 64 and 73 in 2000, 2005 and 2010, Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 respectively. The total number of vehicles in the country nearly doubles in each five years as it was 290,644(in 2000), 502,225 (in 2005) and 923,595 (in 2010). It terms of serving population, the numbers of vehicle/1000 population was 12, 19 and 33 in 2000, 2005 and 2010, respectively. Annual fatalities in road accident are estimated to be 19 fatalities/10000 vehicles.

Table 4 Vehicle population (GoN, 2010) Type of Vehicle 2000 2005 2010 Vehicle Share % Vehicle Share % Vehicle Share % No. No. No. Bus 10,212 3.5 14,024 2.8 22,685 2.5 Minibus 2,772 1.0 4,517 0.9 8,294 0.9 Car/Jeep/Van 57,022 19.6 83,109 16.5 107,431 11.6 Tractor 22,899 7.9 34,336 6.8 51,325 5.6 Motorcycle 165,996 57.1 322,167 64.1 672,104 72.8 Tempo (3 Wheeler) 6,856 2.4 7,298 1.5 7,378 0.8 Microbus 689 0.2 2,193 0.4 2,112 0.2 Truck/Dozer/Crane 20,888 7.2 29,157 5.8 40,796 4.4 Pick Up 956 0.3 1,411 0.3 4,813 0.5 Others 2,354 0.8 4,013 0.8 6,657 0.7 Total 290,644 100.0 502,225 100.0 923,595 2.5 Population (in 24 27 28 millions) Vehicle/1000 12 19 33 population

3.3 Policies and Plan The importance of roads in national and local level has been recognized and highlighted in several key national plans and strategies. Prior 1990s, the transport sector was dominated by public sector. After 1990s, the transport business has mostly been reformed, and transport policies have been modified to permit market-determined decisions, enterprise autonomy, and private participation in the ownership and management of transport business. Parliament enacted „Vehicle and Transport Management Act 1992‟ for regulating the cargo and passenger vehicles and transport management. Government introduced „Build, Operate and Transfer Policy for Public Roads in 1998 enabling public investment in transport sector. National Transport Policy was introduced in 2002 which made the central government responsible for construction, operation and maintenance of National Highways, while the local governments/bodies responsible for urban and rural roads. The Road Board Act 2002 made the Board responsible to make necessary funding provisions on operation and maintenance of roads and raising toll taxes for repair and maintenance of national highways network. An Act was also promulgated in 2006 for facilitating the private sector investment in infrastructure building and operation.

The Three Year Interim Plan (2007-2010) has emphasized the role of roads, civil aviation, and tourism in achieving the country‟s overarching objective of reducing poverty in the Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 country. The Plan aims to connect 5 unconnected district head quarters through roads; establish an enabling environment for public private partnerships; operate a Roads Board for financing road maintenance and efficient road management in a sustainable manner; and an institutional reform of the Department of Roads (DoR) based on the Government‟s reform policy.

In 2001, Government of Nepal (GoN) established a Road Transport Policy and developed a 20 year Master Plan for the SRN (2002 - 2022). The plan envisages providing bituminous sealed road access to all 75 District Headquarters with a target road density of 15 km per 10,000 populations, reducing the existing walking time to 3 days in High Mountain, to 4 hours in Hills and 2 hours in Terai to reach a motor-head by 2022, and reducing the rate of accidents substantially. It also aims to develop the identified eight-trade and transit north- south corridors between neighboring India and China. In accordance with the Sector Wide Road Program (2007-2017), the Government aims to increase the existing road length to a minimum of 31,000 km. of operating road network by the end of 2017.

3.4 Fare and Level of Services for Collective Intercity Travel A field survey was conducted in Kathmandu, the capital city, to collect information on level of services for collective intercity travel and the data are depicted in Table 5. In case of origin-destination distance less than 150 km, majorities of the passengers are using micro-bus followed by ordinary bus. The number of passengers using air services and AC/luxury bus is almost the same. In terms of fare, air services are most expensive followed by automobiles, AC/luxury bus, micro-bus, and ordinary bus. In terms of travel duration, air services are the fastest as obvious. Among other modes of transport, Micro bus takes 200 minutes, AC/luxury bus 224 minutes, automobiles 240 minutes and ordinary bus 300 minutes to travel the same road length of 149 km.

In case of origin-destination distance of 203 km, majorities of the passengers are using micro- bus followed by air services, ordinary bus, automobiles and AC/luxury bus. In terms of fare, air services are most expensive followed by automobiles, AC/luxury bus, micro-bus, and ordinary bus. In terms of travel duration, air services are the fastest as obvious. Among other modes of transport, Micro bus takes 230 minutes, AC/luxury bus 305 minutes, automobiles 330 minutes and ordinary bus 420 minutes to travel the same road length of 203 km.

In case of origin-destination distance of 280 km, majorities of the passengers are using ordinary bus followed by air services, automobiles and AC/luxury bus. In terms of fare, air services are most expensive followed by automobiles, AC/luxury bus, and ordinary bus. In terms of travel duration, air services are the fastest as obvious. Among other modes of transport, an automobile takes 420 minutes, AC/luxury bus 480 minutes, and ordinary bus 600 minutes to travel the same road length of 280 km.

In case of origin-destination distance of 513 km, majorities of the passengers are using ordinary bus followed by air services, and AC/luxury bus. Passengers travelling by automobiles are almost none. In terms of fare, air services are most expensive followed by automobiles, AC/luxury bus, and ordinary bus. In terms of travel duration, air services are the fastest. Among other modes of transport, an AC/luxury bus takes 770 minutes, an automobile 780 minutes, and ordinary bus 840 minutes to travel the same road length of 513 km.

In case of origin-destination distance of 667 km, majorities of the passengers are using Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 ordinary bus followed by air services, and AC/luxury bus. Only a few passengers use automobiles in this route. In terms of fare, air services are most expensive followed by automobiles, AC/luxury bus, and ordinary bus. In terms of travel duration, air services are the fastest as obvious. Among other modes of transport, an automobile takes 900 minutes, AC/luxury bus 960 minutes, and ordinary bus 120 minutes to travel the same road length of 667 km.

Table 5 Fare and level of services for collective intercity travel Origin Mode Class Dist. Time Fare Frequency Demand per -Destination (km) (min) day ($) (departure/ (No. of day) passengers) Kathmandu- Bus AC/Luxury 149 224 7.1 2 68 Bharatpur Ordinary 300 3.4 8 314 Micro-bus* Ordinary 149 200 4.82 48 683 Air Normal 87 20 26.4 4 68 Automobiles - 149 240 19.1 25 96 Kathmandu- Bus AC/Luxury 203 305 5.5 3 96 Pokhara Ordinary 420 4.1 20 680 Micro-bus* Ordinary 203 230 4.89 72 994 Air Normal 143 30 36.6 23 758 Automobiles - 203 330 26.0 41 168 Kathmandu- Bus AC/Luxury 280 480 8.3 1 28 Bhairahawa Ordinary 600 5.4 60 1920 Air Normal 193 40 49.4 8 286 Automobiles - 280 420 35.7 21 84 Kathmandu- Bus AC/Luxury 513 770 14.5 1 36 Nepalgunj Ordinary 840 11.0 13 455 Air Normal 366 55 66.6 5 173 Automobiles - 513 780 65.6 - - Kathmandu- Bus AC/Luxury 667 960 17.2 1 38 Dhangadi Ordinary 1020 12.6 8 312 Air Normal 479 75 104.1 2 63 Automobiles - 667 900 85.3 3 14 Micro-bus*: A 20-seater para-transport vehicle.

4. MAJOR CHALLENGES IN ROAD SECTOR

The Three Year Interim Plan (NPC, 2007) has outlined the major challenges in transport sector as to the need to (i) develop urban roads and highways in commensuration to increased road traffic, (ii) attract private sector investment in the development of roads (iii) manage adequate budget allocation for national level prioritized road projects, (iv) ensure investments to manage and preserve the existing road assets in an effective manner, and (iv) implement road safety and sustainable road development concept. Besides, the country faces several Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 other constraints in the development of its transport sector some of which includes the followings:

4.1 Ineffective Implementation Strategy Following the government's policy to provide road access to all the administrative districts, road construction activities such as opening of new tracks, widening of existing tracks, gravelling and black-topping of roads have been increased significantly in recent years. But these activities are not based on rigorous planning process as there have been attempts to construct rural roads just to connect two isolated, sparsely populated villages without performing cost benefit analysis. Nor it considers the existing trend of the migration in which people are shifting to urban centers from rural villages. In addition, the road construction at many instances is non-engineered and haphazard triggering landslides and promoting soil erosion (Fig. 2).

Figure 2 Soil erosion and landslide resulted due to road construction

4.2 Adverse Geological Situation The country is sub-divided into five tectonic / geologic units, namely Terai, Siwaliks, Lesser Himalaya, Higher Himalaya and Tibetan Tethys Zones from south to north, respectively(Gansser, 1964). Each of these tectonic units are characterized with different rock types, diverse geological structures, uneven topography, and dissimilar weathering conditions. At the same time, the country also falls in a seismically active zone. Consequently, road construction techniques and maintenance practices need to be adjusted based on the geological situation of the site also considering other technicality. As this fact has not been well appreciated, there have been several instances of road blockades by landslides (Fig. 3). In addition, tunneling technology, which may be useful to construct road in unstable areas, has not been introduced to construct road in Nepal until now.

4.3 Weak Local Institutional Capacity Construction and maintenance of the local road network fall under the responsibility of local bodies (District Development Committee and Village Development Committees and Municipalities). But institutional capacities of these agencies are weak with less number of technical manpower, insufficient budget allocation, inefficient incentive structures, poor monitoring and lack of accountability. The inadequate and irregular road maintenance has Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 resulted rapid deterioration of road conditions and quality. The backlog of road maintenance is ever increasing, rendering the present local road network unserviceable at many places.

Figure 3 Highway blockade by a landslide in a geologically unstable area

4.4 Weak Domestic Resource Mobilization Road construction is heavily dependence on foreign assistance. About 60 percent of development expenditure for roads is met from donors‟ contributions. Once donor's role is over, roads are left with no budgetary provision for further improvements and maintenance. Available domestic resource identification and mobilization for the purpose of road construction has not been given due attention. This causes deterioration of the road conditions as there will be no adequate budget for the maintenance and improvement of the roads.

14

12

10

8 Death 6 Injury

4

2 Number of Cases (in thousand) Cases of Number 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Year Figure 4 Number of cases of death and injury due to road accident Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

4.5 Weak law and order situation There has been a trend of transporting more people than the capacity of a vehicle which has created discomfort to passengers and risk to accidents. Although driving a vehicle with passengers on its roof top is prohibited by law, in some occasions such as during festival times, such practice do exists due to unavailability of enough number of transport vehicles. Besides, driving vehicle after drinking alcohol and with more than designed speed is also in increasing trend despite the fact that such attempts are punishable. Vehicles are not regularly maintained and driven without checking their condition properly. As a result, the cases of accidents are in rise (Fig. 4). There has been a record of 1,734 people killed and 11,513injured due to road accident in 2009 (Traffic Directorate, 2010).

5. OPPORTUNITIES IN ROAD SECTOR

5.1 Expansion of Road Network Nepal is a small and beautiful country. The bio-diversity that exists across the narrow cross- section of the country is quite vast. The water resources that are available here could be harnessed for regional benefits. The friendly Nepalese people with a pride history could be of interest to global visitors. The country has a tremendous amount of electricity deficiency which needs to be addressed in near future by generating thousands of Megawatts of electricity from hydropower. For the purpose, access roads to hydropower projects are being planned. Similarly, government aims to provide better, faster and reliable transportation facilities to its people through road networks connecting all the districts and regions. To achieve these development targets, existing road networks have to be upgraded and expanded which is an opportunity for high quality road development in Nepal.

5.2 Development of Expressway Rapid urbanization with increasing number of vehicles has created traffic congestion in major intercity road transport. Similarly, fast and reliable transport services are also in need to facilitate trade with neighboring countries. Likewise, reliable and uninterrupted road connection to existing and potential tourist destinations has also been felt equally. These situations have created an opportunity to develop expressways using an efficient and environment-friendly technique. One expressway (9km long Kathmandu-Bhaktapur) is about to complete and Nepal Government is studying for other possible sites.

5.3 Development of Railway Of the three modes of transportation, railway transport represents very insignificant magnitude of transportation in Nepal. But railways can be considered as an alternative mode of transport as it enhances social cohesion, and forward and backward linkages for economic development of Nepal (Regmi, 2010). In fact, Nepal can be immensely benefitted by developing rail system as the backbone of transport mode. However, the railway development agenda should be handled at national level (Acharya and Morichi, 2010). In addition, consistent set of strategies should be worked out at the earliest addressing issues like technology transfer, institutional set-up, funding and financing, and multi-modal coordination. Most importantly, Nepal should be smart not to repeat the failure story of railway that is “superior” technology badly managed with “inferior” policies and institutions. Recently, a feasibility study on Mechi-Mahakali and Pokhara-Kathmandu Electric Railway has been completed and Nepal government has plans to study further for its materialization.

Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The transport sector in Nepal is consisted of road transport followed by air services. Contribution of railway, waterways and ropeways in public transportation is almost negligible. Air service is conducted through 53 domestic airports and only one international airport. The road transport constitutes national highways, feeder roads, district roads, urban roads and village roads. Currently, there exists 20,138km of road comprising of black-topped 6,304km, graveled 4,832km and fair-weather 9,002km. Four district head quarters are yet to be connected with road network. The average road density is 13.7km/100 square km. In terms of serving the population, the average density is 7.2 km/10,000 populations. Average widths of the national highways vary between 3.5 and 7 m. In majorities of the cases, the designed maximum speed does not exceed 60 km/hr. There are only two highways with designed maximum speed of 100 km/hr. The construction cost varies in each highway based mainly on the width of the road, nature of the terrain through which road has to be constructed. For the year 2010, the annual road expenditure budget was 274 Million US$ that also included annual maintenance expenditure of 18 Million US$. The external fund share for road construction and maintenance was 48 % of the total budget (NPC, 2009)

The composition of vehicle consists of bus, minibus, microbus car, jeep, van, tractor, motorcycle, tempo (three-wheeler), truck, dozer, crane, and pick up. Of these, the number of motorcycle is at maximum followed by car (including jeep and van), tractor, and truck (including dozer and crane) during last 10 years. Currently, the total number of vehicles in the country is 923,595. It terms of serving population, the numbers of vehicle/1000 population is estimated to be 33 for 2010. Annual fatalities in road accident are estimated to be 19 fatalities/10000 vehicles.

Government of Nepal has developed a 20 year Master Plan (2002 - 2022) for road development which envisages providing bituminous sealed road access to all 75 District Headquarters with a target road density of 15 km per 10,000 populations. It also aims to develop the identified eight-trade and transit north-south corridors between neighboring India and China. Recently, the government has also started feasibility study on railway development in Nepal.

Buses, micro-buses, air and automobiles form the modes of intercity transport. Majorities of the passengers are opting micro-buses as a suitable mode of intercity transport to travel less than 200km as it is reliable, faster than normal buses and inexpensive than AC/luxury buses and air services. In case of long route of more than about 300km, despite of time consuming and other uncomfortable situations, passengers use buses as of their first priority as it is inexpensive than air, which forms 2nd priority. People also use automobiles to travel long distance. These figures clearly indicate that the government should improve bus and micro- bus services for short distance routes whereas the air services should be made affordable to general public in case of long distance routes. A policy formulation to discourage using automobiles for long distance journey would also help maintain environment and save fuel.

The major challenges in the road transport sector are ineffective implementation strategy, adverse geological situation, week local institutional capacity and inadequate budget allocation for construction and maintenance of roads. Future opportunity lies in the fact that the country has to develop expressways and railways to meet the development challenges.

Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011

REFERENCES

Acharya, S. R. and Morichi, S. (2010) Strategic Issues for Railway Development in Nepal: Insights from International Experiences, Proceeding of the International Symposium on Railway Development in Nepal: Challenges, Issues and Prospects, National Planning Commission (NPC) and Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). (2010) Civil Aviation Report 2009-2010, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Kathmandu. Department of Roads (DoR). (2010) Statistics of Strategic Road Network, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW), Government of Nepal. Gansser, A. (1964) Geology of the Himalaya, Interscience Publishers, 289 p Government of Nepal (GoN). (2010) Economic Survey, Fiscal Year 2009/2010, Volume 1, Ministry of Finance. Ministry of Physical Planning and Works. (2010) Feasibility Study of Mechi – Mahakali and Pokhara – Kathmandu Electric Railway, Government of Nepal (unpublished report). National Planning Commission (NPC). (2007) The Three Year Interim Plan (2007-2010), Government of Nepal. National Planning Commission (NPC). (2009) The annual program for the year 2009 / 2010, Government of Nepal. National Planning Commission (NPC). (2010) The Foundation Paper of The Three Year Interim Plan (2007-2010), Government of Nepal. Regmi, P. P. (2010) Policy Recommendation for Electric Railway Development in Nepal, Proceeding of the International Symposium on Railway Development in Nepal: Challenges, Issues and Prospects, National Planning Commission (NPC) and Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI), Nepal. The World Bank. (2010) Transport in south Asia, Nepal Highway Data, http://go.worldbank.org/3DRL9IS8L0 (retrieved on January 16, 2010). Traffic Directorate. (2010) Comparative Data on Traffic Accident (Region Wise), Unpublished Report, Traffic Directorate, Police Headquarter, Kathmandu.