Vladivostok: Regular passenger rail service between Russia and North Korea resumed on Monday after a four-year pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s Ussuri customs spokeswoman Irina Kulchitskaya told RIA Novosti.
Passenger traffic between the two neighboring countries was suspended in 2020 amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Russian Railways announced last week that passenger trains will run between Tumangang in North Korea and Khasan in Russia three times a week.
“Regular passenger traffic has been opened at the Khasan railway checkpoint on the border with the DPRK [North Korea]. As of 15:00 (5 a.m. GMT) Ussuri customs officers processed a passenger train for departure to the DPRK,” Kulchitskaya said.
Irregular train traffic between the two countries has been running since June at North Korea’s initiative.
Kulchitskaya estimated that 1,200 passengers traveled in both directions in the past months. Cargo trains, which were the only ones to cross the border checkpoint during the pandemic, will continue operating.
Russia resumed passenger rail service with China on Sunday, which was also interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The train entering Russia’s Grodekovo from China’s Suifenhe carried two tourist groups totaling 69 people.
UNI
