China-NKorea trains to resume after six-year halt: travel agents

BEIJING: Passenger train service between China and North Korea is set to resume on Thursday, six years after it was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic, travel operators told AFP.

The service will be open to Chinese people working and studying in North Korea, as well as North Koreans working, studying and visiting family abroad, according to travel agents at official ticketing booths in Beijing and Dandong.

Tourists will not yet be eligible to purchase tickets.

"It's great to see the international train service resuming," Rowan Beard, tours manager at Young Pioneer Tours, told AFP on Tuesday.

He confirmed his company, one of several firms that specialise in travel to North Korea, would also be able to book tickets from Thursday.

"While it isn't initially intended for tourists, it will provide another travel option once tourism to North Korea eventually returns, serving as an alternative to flying."

Train journeys between the two countries were halted in 2020 when they imposed strict measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Last year, direct flights and train services resumed between North Korea and Russia, as the two have drawn closer since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

By RSS/AFP