First built as a cargo line to carry wood from Nepal to India in 1937, it was once the lifeblood of the community in Janakpur, running 29 km (18 miles) from Jainagar in India's neighboring eastern state of Bihar.
The train service, which eventually became a cheap way for travelers to cross the international border, closed in January 2014 for a $100-million project to upgrade the colonial-era narrow rail track into a broad-gauge line.
Travelers have been forced to use buses instead, paying three times the price of a train ticket for a journey four times as long, which is complicated further during the monsoon rains that make the roads muddy.
The revamp of the railway, set to be completed next March, presents clear signs of renewal and the improvements to come.
Construction is nearly 80 percent complete, with bridges and a total of 14 stations built along the route, where land has been leveled for the laying of track to extend the line northwards a distance of 69 km (43 miles).
