The East Central Railway inspected the Supaul-Saraigarh-Nirmali-Jhanjharpur railway line over the Kosi Rail Bridge on 13 March and is expected to be operational soon. The Nirmali – Saraigarh railway section was closed after the devastating earthquake of 15 January, 1934. Once reopened, the current 272 KM distance between Nirmali and Supaul via Darbhanga – Samastipur – Saharsa will be reduced to 44 KM.
The Kosi Rail Mahasetu on Kosi River at Nirmali in North Bihar is two kilometers long and will link Nirmali with Saraigarh. This rail link will unite again the two parts of Supaul district and Mithila region and also develop an alternative route between North Bihar and North Eastern States. Located in district Supaul in North Bihar, it will connect Nirmali, which is presently a terminus station of Darbhanga-Sakri-Jhanjharpur-Nirmali section, with Saraigarh station of Saharsa – Forbisganj route to provide through link to Northeast Frontier Railway. River Kosi has been causing floods and damages in this region due to shifting of its river course. Between year 1921 and 1954 Kosi shifted its course by almost 50 kilometers westward. With the shifting of the main channel of the Kosi river, the rail link between Nirmali -Bhaptiahi (Saraigarh) got washed away in 1934 and train services curtailed with further damage in 1937. The train services had to be terminated at Nirmali. No proper bridge location could be planned to restore washed away rail line bridge due to the continuous changing course of the Kosi river.
With the disruption of this route, people of Nirmali area were thus forced to take a circuitous route of 298 kilometers via Darbhanga-Samastipur-Khagaria-Mansi-Saharsa to reach the district headquarters.
The construction of a barrage on the river Kosi at Bhimnagar along Nepal Border in 1963 and construction of marginal bunds on east and west bank on the downstream side of the barrage has helped in confining the course of the river. This has also helped in saving the region from repeated floods. The new bridge Koshi Sindhu bridge was approved on 6 June 2003.
After 87 years, the General Manager Inspection Special, run entirely by women, ran on the Nirmali-Saraigad railway block. The initiative will restore direct rail service between Kosi and Mithilanchal.
An Automatic Coach Washing Plant was inaugurated by General Manager Lalit Chandra Trivedi at Saharsa station, which is Bihar’s first coach washing plant. With this, cleaning of rake comprising 24 coaches will be completed in just 7-8 minutes. Its main feature is that 80% of the water used for cleaning can be recycled and used again.