until the highway was built, the amlekhganj-raxaul railway was the only route indirectly connecting the capital kathmandu with india. from kathmandu, travellers journeyed over the hills on foot, and then by lorry to amlekhganj where they took the train to india. the need to walk was eliminated after tribhuvan highway linking kathmandu with amlekhganj was built in 1956. the first daily bus service began operating on it in 1959, conducted by a private company named nepal transport service.