 "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing. Reuters")
The first passenger train service between China and North Korea after a six-year hiatus is scheduled to set off from Beijing on Thursday, part of a series of moves by China to shore up cross-border infrastructure and rebuild bilateral ties.
Following a 24-hour and 41-minute journey skirting north of the Bohai Sea and a stopover in China’s northeastern border city of Dandong, train K27 from Beijing is scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang at 6:07 p.m. (0907 GMT) on Friday, according to a Tuesday notice from China’s railway authority.
China and North Korea are “friendly neighbours” and a cross-border passenger train service facilitates people-to-people exchanges between the two, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday.
China also supports the strengthening of communication between authorities on both sides to create more convenient conditions for bilateral personnel exchanges, the spokesperson added.
The train service was suspended when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020.
RESTRICTED TICKETS
The Beijing-Pyongyang route will operate four days a week, in both directions, on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, according to a notice by China’s railway authority. The Dandong-Pyongyang route will operate daily in both directions.
The tickets, restricted to business visa holders, were sold out for Thursday’s trip, but those for March 18 were still available, a Beijing travel agency said.
State-run news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday that the route aimed to facilitate cross-border travel, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges.
North Korea is largely closed to foreign tourism, with limited exceptions largely for Russian tour groups under restricted arrangements, according to travel agencies organising trips to the country.