After more than five years since the launch of modernisation works, in September, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Russia resumed traffic on the Rajin-Khassan railway at the border between the two countries. Freight trains will run on this railway which connects the Rajin port city in the North-East of North Korea to the city of Khassan, at the border with Russia’s Far East.
For this project, which we can call an extension of the Trans-Siberian, 54 km of railways with different gauges have required reconstruction works and 18 bridges, 12 culverts and 3 tunnels with a total length of 4.5 km demanded works for resumption of traffic. Moreover, the signalling and interlocking systems have been installed. The reconstruction of the section was financed by Russian Railways.
The final construction phase to create a universal transloading terminal at the port of Rajin has now begun. “The port is designed to handle transshipment volumes of 4 m tonnes of cargo, but that is not the limit. We are confident that the cargo base will expand and that containers will be shipped through the port. The construction of the port terminal is almost complete, and we are already seeing interest from international customers and partners,” said President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin.
“This railway section will become a transport route that will promote the joint economic and transport development of our two countries and will be a reliable international transport hub linking Asia and Europe,” said North Korea’s Minister of Railways Jeong Gil Su during the official opening of the line.
North Korea’s attempt to improve econo-mic relationships with its neighbours, China and Russia, after the country was struck by poverty, has proven successful in the north of the country where neighbouring countries have sent their representatives to rebuild the damaged infrastructure. The port of Rajin is located in the west of Tumen River, is part of Rason Province (free trade area), while Khassan is located near Khassan Lake and Tumen River and is the only Russian city at the border with North Korea.
China and Russia have massively invested in the region in order to be able to make their way to the three ports on the eastern shore of the cities of Rajin (Rason) and Songbon, the main centres of the Rason Special Econo-mic Zone in the north of North Korea. The ports would permit halving the distance for the Chinese companies which carry freight from the city of Yanji, Jilin Province, which is landlocked, to the great industrial centre of Dalian, a commercial hub in the north-east of China as well.
The connection with Russia will, at least, give North Korea the opportunity to boost trade with its economically developed neighbours after years of international economic restrictions. The railway line and the container terminal will be used for the transport of coal, but also for the import of freight from South Korea and other countries in Asia.
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