Kathmandu, May 25

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd (CRCCL) — a state-owned construction company of China — have inked an agreement to conduct the feasibility study of Ring Road (Chakrapath) Monorail Project in Kathmandu Valley.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed today between KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya and Li Hongki, executive officer of CRCCL, to prepare the feasibility study of the monorail project.

CRCCL is one of the firms that had submitted their expression of interest (EoI) to carry out the feasibility study of the planned Chakrapath Monorail Project.

As per the inked agreement, CRCCL will have to complete the feasibility study of the project within seven months. The study report should look into and clearly reveal the financial, social and technical aspects of operating monorail along the Ring Road.

After the signing ceremony, KMC Mayor Shakya said that the construction of Ring Road Monorail Project will be expedited once CRCCL submits its report to KMC. “It is a mega project and will take time. However, I expect the project to be completed within my tenure at KMC,” said Shakya.

Citing that almost 10 kilometres of Ring Road falls in Lalitpur Metropolitan City, its Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan expressed

his commitment to support KMC and the project developer to capitalise the Ring Road Monorail project.

Meanwhile, Li Hongki of CRCCL vowed that the company will complete the feasibility study of the project and submit the report to KMC within the designated time.

KMC has planned to construct the Kathmandu Monorail Project under build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) model.

Different preliminary studies of the project have shown that monorail construction along the Ring Road will cost between Rs two billion and Rs three billion per kilometre and will be able to transport up to 150,000 passengers a day.