Moscow: A passenger train service linking the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and Moscow will resume its operation next week after years of suspension over the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's state-run railway operator has said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a railway service directly connecting the capitals of North Korea and Russia will start its operation on June 17 under an agreement with North Korea's railway authorities, the Russian Railways announced on its Telegram account Monday. The resumption comes after the Moscow-Pyongyang train service was suspended in February 2020 due to the pandemic.
The Moscow-Pyongyang train service will operate twice per month on a route spanning more than 10,000 kilometers, with the journey expected to take eight days. The Russian railway operator has described it as "the longest direct railway route in the world." A train bound for Moscow will depart from Pyongyang on the 3rd and 17th of every month, while a service heading to Pyongyang will leave from Moscow on the 12th and 26th of each month.
The train will make stops at stations in several Russian cities, including Khasan, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, and Kostroma. In addition, another train service linking Pyongyang and Khabarovsk, a city near Russia's border with North Korea, will begin its once-per-month operation on June 19.
The move to resume train services comes as North Korea and Russia have been strengthening their cooperation in multiple fields, including military and economic sectors, following the signing of a mutual defense treaty in June last year. Late last year, passenger rail services resumed connecting North Korea's Tumen River Station and Russia's Khasan Station in the border area.
In May, the two nations initiated the construction of a road bridge across the Tumen River amid deepening bilateral ties. This project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.