Raxaul

Raxaul रक्सौल
Town
Raxaul Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates: 26°59′00″N 84°51′00″E / 26.9833°N 84.8500°E / 26.9833; 84.8500Coordinates: 26°59′00″N 84°51′00″E / 26.9833°N 84.8500°E / 26.9833; 84.8500
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	Poorvi Champaran
Elevation	68 m (223 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	103,425
Languages
• Official	Hindi, Nepali, Bhojpuri
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	845305
Telephone code	06255
Lok Sabha constituency	Paschimee Champaran
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Raxaul
Website	eastchamparan.bih.nic.in

Raxaul is a sub-divisional town in the East Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated on the India-Nepal border opposite Birganj (Nepal), and is an entry point in Nepal by road and rail. Raxaul is a major railway terminus.

The Indian border town of Raxaul has become one of the busiest towns for heavy transportation due to high trade volume. Almost 56% of the total products of Birgunj are exported to the Indian state of Bihar through this route.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,^[1] Raxaul Bazar had a population of 2,40,347. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Raxaul Bazar has an average literacy rate of 60%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 66%, and female literacy is 48%. In Raxaul Bazar, 20% of the population is under 6 years of age. People use to communicate with each other in Bhojpuri, Hindi and Nepali language.

History

Falejarganj is one of the oldest known name of Raxaul.

Transport

Raxaul is the only city that connected with Nepal. Birgunj railway station was connected by the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) to Raxaul station in Bihar across the border with India. The 47 km (29 mi) railway extended north to Amlekhganj in Nepal. It was built in 1927 by the British but discontinued beyond Birgunj in December 1965.[3] The 6 km (3.7 mi) railway track from Raxaul to Birgunj was converted to broad gauge two years after the Indian railways converted the track to Raxaul inside India to broad gauge. Now, broad gauge railway line connects Raxaul to the Sirsiya (Birgunj) Inland Container Depot (ICD) that became fully operational in 2005. Talks have been held to reopen the railway route from Birgunj to Amlekhganj in Nepal by converting it to broad gauge because of its socio-economic importance.

Rail

Raxaul railway station junction is situated on the Delhi – Gorakhpur - Raxaul - Muzaffarpur - Kolkata lines.

Raxaul is connected to several cities in Bihar with daily passenger trains. There are multiple daily connections to Muzaffarpur, Sugauli, and Sitamarhi and daily connections to Bagaha, Hajipur, Samastipur, Motihari and Narkatiaganj.

Daily express trains connect to Delhi with stops in major cities in Uttar Pradesh including Gorakhpur and Bareilly. Kolkata is also connected by a daily express train.

There are also direct trains to Lucknow and Varanasi with stops in several towns in Uttar Pradesh. Chhapra, Patna, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Darbhanga, Barauni, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Rourkela, Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur and Hyderabad are also connected by weekly or multiple weekly trains.

Delhi is connected via Satyagraha Express and Sadbhavana Express. Earlier, all tracks were metre gauge but most have been converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Broad gauge under Project Unigauge. After the completion of the gauge conversion from Darbhanga to Raxaul via Sitamarhi, another broad gauge route to Raxaul became available from March 2014. The metre gauge track from Raxaul to Narkatiaganj remains to be converted.

Raxaul Junction

Road

Raxaul is connected to major cities of India by National Highway 28A. However the condition of NH 28A is terrible causing regular traffic jams.It is the main route to Nepal. The capital of Nepal, Kathmandu is connected with India through this highway. There is a bus terminal from where buses are available for most of cities in Bihar & Jharkhand.

Airlines and destinations

Raxaul Airport (ICAO: VERL) is located at Raxaul in the state of Bihar, India. It was established after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, when it served as an emergency landing ground for the Indian Army. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) that owns the airport has undertaken a pre-feasibility study at the airport to upgrade the airport to handle ATR-72 aircraft. A draft Master Plan highlighting a requirement of an additional 121 acres of land has been submitted to the State Government.

Now, there is currently no scheduled commercial air service. Raxaul can be reached by flying to Simara in Nepal. That airport is 27 km from Raxaul and has direct flights to Kathmandu. A proposal to operationalize the airport for civilian use has been drafted.

Border crossing

India and Nepal have an open border with no restrictions on movement of their nationals and no need of visa or passport documents for local people. There is a customs checkpoint for goods and third country nationals. There are Jeeps, Cars, Tempos (Three wheels vehicles), and the Tangas (Horse Driven 6 seater Rickshaws) from Raxaul station for Birganj bus park.

Gateway to Nepal outside Birgunj

River

Sariswa River

The river, Sariswa (Sirsiya), a tributary of the Burhi -Gandak, originates from Pathlahia hill of the dense Ramban forests in Nepal, its course roaming through the subdivision cutting through Bara and Parsa districts in Nepal and Raxaul in Bihar, India. It flows southwards from the place of its origin for about 15km in Nepal and then enters India at Raxaul. From here, the river flows about 20km in India and joins Burhi Gandak near Sugauli in East Champaran district. The water is pure in its contents and have full of medicinal values like other Himalayan rivers. It maintains its valuable contents till Parwanipur. But after it, unrestrained untreated wastes are being dumped by the 46 factories situated at Birgunj (Nepal) which make this river contaminated. The colour of the river turned into black besides, emanating foul smell has made the life of the people, who dwell near the river, a nightmare.

Bangari River

It is the neighbor river of Sariswa (Sirsiya) river.

References

↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

Cities and towns in Tirhut Division

East Champaran district	Areraj Mehsi Chakia Dhaka Lauthaha Motihari Raxaul Sugauli Harsidhi

Muzaffarpur district	Kanti Motipur Muzaffarpur

Sheohar district	Sheohar

Sitamarhi district	Bairgania Belsand Dumra Janakpur Road Runni Saidpur Sitamarhi Talkhapur

Vaishali district	Hajipur Lalganj Mahnar Bazar

West Champaran district	Bagaha Bettiah Chanpatia Narkatiaganj Ramnagar

See also	Tirhut Division topics

Cities and towns in other Divisions	Bhagalpur Darbhanga Kosi Magadh Munger Patna Purnia Saran

Railways in the North-east and Eastern India

National network/ trunk lines	Howrah–Delhi main line Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line Howrah-Chennai main line Sahibganj Loop Grand Chord Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line Barauni-Guwahati line Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line

Branch lines/ sections	Andal-Sainthia branch line Asansol-Gaya section Asansol–Patna section Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line Bairabi Sairang Railway Bakhtiyarpur–Tilaiya line Bankura-Masagram line Bardhaman-Asansol section Barauni–Katihar section Barauni–Gorakhpur, Raxaul and Jainagar lines Barauni-Samastipur-Muzaffarpur-Hajipur line Barauni-Samastipur section Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Fatuha–Tilaiya line Gaya–Kiul line Gaya–Mughalsarai section Guwahati–Lumding section Haldibari–New Jalpaiguri line Jasidih–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line Jharia Coalfield rail network Katihar–Siliguri line Kharagpur–Puri line Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section Lalgola and Gede branch lines Lumding Agartala Rail Line Lumding–Dibrugarh section Madhupur Giridih Rail Line Mokama–Barauni section Muzaffarpur- Gorakhpur line (via Hajipur, Raxaul and Sitamarhi) Muzaffarpur-Gorakhpur main line Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi section Muzaffarpur-Hajipur section Netaji S.C.Bose Gomoh–Hatia line New Jalpaiguri–Alipurduar–Samuktala Road line New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section New Bongaigaon–Guwahati section Patna–Gaya line Patna–Mughalsarai section Samastipur-Muzaffarpur section Tatanagar–Bilaspur section

Lines around Kolkata	Howrah–Bardhaman main line Howrah–Bardhaman chord Sheoraphuli–Bishnupur branch line Sealdah–Ranaghat line Sealdah–Hasnabad–Bangaon–Ranaghat line Sealdah South lines Barasat Basirhat Railway Howrah–Kharagpur line

Monorail	Aizawl Monorail Kolkata Monorail Patna Monorail

Defunct lines revived//under revival	Ahmedpur Katwa Railway Bankura Damodar Railway Burdwan Katwa Railway Bukhtiarpur Bihar Light Railway Futwah-Islampur Light Railway

Defunct lines	Kalighat Falta Railway Bengal Provincial Railway Mayurbhanj State Railway The Cherra Companyganj State Railways East Coast State Railway

Production units/ workshops	Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Braithwaite & Co. Ltd. Burn Standard Company Bharat Wagon and Engineering Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company

Named trains	Amritsar Mail Ananya Express Anand Vihar Muzaffarpur Garib Rath Express Anga Express Aranyak Express Arunachal Express Assam Mail Azad Hind Express Bagh Express Bandra – Patna Express Barisal Express Bhagalpur – Anand Vihar Terminal Garib Rath Express Bhagirati Express Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express Bhubaneswar Duronto Express Black Diamond Express Brahmaputra Mail Cachar Express Chambal Express Chennai Mail Coalfield Express Coromandel Express Darbhanga–Bangalore Express Darjeeling Mail Dhauli Express Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express Doon Express East Bengal Express East Bengal Mail Falaknuma Express Farakka Express Ganadevata Express Ganga Kaveri Express Ganga Sagar Express Gour Express Guwahati Bangalore Express (Kaziranga Express) Hazarduari Express Hirakud Express Howrah – Dhanbad Double Decker Express Howrah-Delhi Yuva Express Howrah-Kanyakumari Express Howrah – New Delhi Duronto Express Howrah – New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Howrah Rajdhani Express Indore – Patna Express Indore – Rajendra Nagar Via. Faizabad Express Ispat Express (train) Jnaneshwari Express Kalinga Utkal Express Kalka Mail Kamrup Express Kanchenjunga Express Magadh Express Maithili Express Mithila Express Maitree Express Manikarnika Express Muzaffarpur Anand Vihar Garib Rath Express North East Express Patna Duronto Express Patna – Kota Express Pratham Swatrantata Sangrm Express Poorva Express Purushottam Express Rajdhani Express – Rajendranagar Rajendranagar Express Ranchi Rajdhani Express Sampoorna Kranti Express Sanghamithra Express Sapt Kranti Express Sealdah – New Delhi Duronto Express Sealdah Rajdhani Express Shaktipunj Express Shramjeevi express Shipra Express Surat Bhagalpur Express Surat–Muzaffarpur Express Tiruchirappalli Express Tirhut Express Utsarg Express Vikramshila Express West Bengal Sampark Kranti

Transit points with Bangladesh	Singhabad–Rohanpur Gede–Darshana Petrapole–Benapole

Defunct transit points with Bangladesh	Mahisasan-Shahbajpur Radhikapur–Biral Changrabandha–Burimari Haldibari–Chilahati Gitaldaha–Mogalhat

Indian railheads near India-Nepal border	Raxaul Bairgania Jainagar Jogbani Laukaha Bazar Thakurganj

Railway companies	East Indian Railway Company Bengal Nagpur Railway Eastern Bengal Railway Assam Bengal Railway Bengal Dooars Railway Cooch Behar State Railway Indian Branch Railway Company Martin's Light Railways Eastern Railway East Central Railway South Eastern Railway East Coast Railway Northeast Frontier Railway North Eastern Railway

See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) Suburban rail in India Kolkata Suburban Railway Northeast Indian Railways during World War II Trains of East Coast Railway (India)