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Rail freight movement launched between Russia and N Korea

“The two countries for the first time launched the rail freight movement,” the first deputy director-general of the Russian-North Korean joint venture RasonKonTrans...

RAJIN, North Korea, October 12 (Itar-Tass) — A demo train driven by railroad engineers of Russia’s Far Eastern Railway along the rail section of the Trans-Korean Railway has arrived in North Korea’s Rajin.

“The two countries for the first time launched the rail freight movement,” the first deputy director-general of the Russian-North Korean joint venture RasonKonTrans, Vladimir Parkhomenko, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the train will reach the border station of Tumangan in North Korea, where Russian and North Korean railway specialists and journalists will gather.

The Russian delegation will be led by Valery Reshetnikov, Senior Vice-President of the Russian Railways Company (RZD).

The launch of the demo train is timed to coincide with the 63d anniversary of the Russian-North Korean diplomatic relations.

At present, Russia and North Korea are implementing the Khasan-Rajin pilot project that includes the reconstruction of a 52 kilometre rail section, the construction of a container terminal in the port of Rajin and the operation of the yet-to-be-created infrastructure.

In October 2008 North Korea’s station of Tumangan on the border with Russia hosted a rail-laying ceremony of the modernized railway section running to North Korea’s Rajin. Experts say this non-freezing port has developed infrastructure, ensures high security of freighters and provides privileges to entrepreneurs. Thanks to its geographic location the port can be used by Russian, South Korean, Chinese and Japanese companies.

In general, the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railway will allow cargo trains to run at high speed from Rajin to Khasan and along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

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