South Korean train chugs into North Korea for the first time

Friday, November 30, 2018

South meets north, as a South Korean train, for the first time, chugs into North Korea on Dorasan station on November 30, 2018.

The trip is a result of series of summit meetings between the two countries’ leaders aimed at encouraging the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program. The trip is a study to inspect the North’s aged railway system. The team on board is carrying their own fuel and supplies to conform to stringent sanctions still in place against Pyongyang. A rail link up of the divided peninsula is in the anvil.

Any spare fuel left over from the trip will have to be hauled back to South Korea, to avoid the risk of inspectors breaching international restrictions on trading with the North.

If the restrictions are lifted the linking of the two Korean rail systems could boost economy of the peninsula. South Korean exporters will get a faster route to China and Eurasia.

It is the vision of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to build a trans-Korea railroad. He wants the severed inter-Korean railway to be connected again. He believes that one day ‘a train departing from Busan and Mokpo will run through Pyongyang and Beijing, and head towards Russia and Europe.’

A seven-car train left Seoul Station at 6:30 a.m. local time on Friday, and arrived at the border two and a half hours later. Inspectors are hoping to determine the state of the North Korean railways, and the funds required to upgrade them – making them fit for the South Korean trains to traverse.

According to South Korean officials, North Korea has over 5,226 kilometers (3,247 miles) of railway, compared to about 3,900 kilometers (2,423 miles) in the South. However, most of the North Korean track lines are single due to which trains cannot pass each other with an average speed of 40-50 km per hour (24-31 mph).

It is the first time that a South Korean train car has ever traveled along the North’s eastern Donghae line from Mount Kumgang to the Tumen River.

The new trip will travel from Kaesong to Sinuiju near the border with China, down to Pyongyang, Wonsan and Anbyon before a trip to the Tumen River. The final return would be via Wonsan, Pyongyang and Kaesong to Seoul.

This first train trip from South to North Korea lays the foundation for future travel and economic synergies between the two countries and beyond.

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