Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

is a landlocked mountainous country where transportation is difficult due to the terrain.

Road

Road is the country's primary transport mode. The Economic Survey 2014-15 released by the

Ministry of Finance (Nepal) Ministry of Finance ( ne, अर्थ मन्त्रालय) is the central authority of Government of Nepal charged with the responsibilities for maintaining both micro and macro economic stability in the country. The position of fin ...

, shows that the country has a total road network of , which includes of roads constructed and being maintained by the Department of Roads(DoR) and of roads constructed by local government bodies.

Highways

*Total: 31393 km *Paved: 14102 km *Gravel:. 7881 km *Unpaved: 9410 km (2018 est.)

Rail

Nepal Government Railway operated a short narrow gauge railway from 1927 to 1965. Presently in 2022, there are two operational

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

lines in the country, both of which connect Nepal with India: the

Raxaul Raxaul is a sub-divisional town in the East Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated at the India-Nepal border with Birgunj city (Nepal). Raxaul is a major railway junction. The Indian border town of Raxaul has become on ...

–

Sirsiya Sirsiya is a village development committee in Parsa District in Province No. 2 of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 1966 people living in 352 individual households. Sirsiya is now known for its Inl ...

and the Jainagar–

Janakpur Janakpurdham or Janakpur ( ne, जनकपुर, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha District, Madhesh Province, Nepal. The city is a hub for religious and cultural tourism. A headquarter of Dhanusha district, ''Janakpur'' is also the capi ...

. The former is a line from Raxaul, India to Sirsiya Inland Container Depot (or dry port) near

Birgunj Birgunj ( ne, वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhesh Province of southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entr ...

, Nepal, and is primarily used for

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

transport. It allows container traffic to be imported to Nepal through the Sirsiya dry port container depot. The latter is a line from

Jaynagar Jaynagar Majilpur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the town is within the ar ...

, India to Janakpur, Nepal, and is used primarily for passenger transport.

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

had agreed to construct 8 different India–Nepal cross-border rail lines, this includes linking

with

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, during Prime Minister KP Oli's visit to India. A team of technical officers visited

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

to study the proposed railway from

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and they have stated that a feasibility study of the project would begin. They have already identified Chobhar as the terminus of the 113 km-long line. China–Nepal railway is a planned line through Kathmandu, linking India with

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

, has been proposed by the KP Oli government. In November 2017, Chinese media reported the arrival of a delegation of Chinese railway experts in Nepal. They discussed the possibility of a rail connection between China and Nepal. In August 2018, the two sides reached an agreement on construction details of the railway.

Air

There are 53 airports in Nepal as of 2020 out of which 34 are in operation.

Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport (Nepali language, Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, B ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and

Gautam Buddha International Airport Gautam Buddha International Airport , also known as Bhairahawa Airport, is an international airport located in Siddharthanagar (formerly and colloquially still called Bhairahawa) serving Lumbini in Lumbini Province, as well as the Butwal﹣Siddh ...

Lumbini Lumbinī ( ne, लुम्बिनी, IPA=ˈlumbini , "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth ...

are the international airports and serve as the aviation hubs.

Airports with paved runways

*Total: 9 *Over 3,047 m: 1 *1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 *914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2002)

Airports with unpaved runways

*Total: 36 *1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 *914 to 1,523 m: 7 *Under 914 m: 28 (2002)

Water

Nepal is a

landlocked country A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...

with no ocean borders. Nepal's three dry "ports" are Birgunj,

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Province No. 1. With a population of 242,548 as per the 2011 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the pr ...

, and

Bhairahawa Siddharthanagar ( ne, सिद्धार्थनगर), formerly and colloquially still called Bhairahawa ( ne, भैरहवा), is a municipality and the administrative headquarter of Rupandehi District in Lumbini Province of Nepal, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Nepal