China adds another train line to N. Korean border town
New 290km line connects Dalian to Dandong, cuts journey time by 90 minutes
The 290 kilometer line runs along the Chinese coast, can travel up to 200 km per hour and marks the end of a five year construction project.
“It’s a passenger focused train but was also built for freight. The journey time is 90 minutes but it is likely to take nearly 2 hours due to a number of intermediate stations,” Lee Chang-ju, a PhD candidate of Fudan University in Shanghai told NK News.
Lee added the new route would be around 90 minutes faster than the current road journey and tickets would cost around 100 yuan ($15 dollars).
The new line will reportedly have 24 passenger trains, and a further 34 cargo trains running to the border town where over 70 percent of trade with North Korea occurs.
“(It’s) nothing to do with North Korean tourists though, this is just a sensible connection of Dalian to the national high speed rail grid,” Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours told NK News.
The additional route is just one of two recently completed rail lines connecting to the DPRK border town. In late August another high speed bullet train was added between Shenyang and Dandong.
The new routes follow the opening of a new tax free trade zone in the area. The new 40 square kilometer trade area supposedly began operations in August, and appeared targeted at small to medium scale traders dealing in goods valued at less than $1288 a day.
“Although they do not really have a positive diplomatic relation, both the DPRK and China want to increase trade and the establishment of the duty free zone in Dandong will be a start. They could continue to grow once the Dandong experience proves to be successful,” Lim Eul-chul, research director at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies told NK News in July.
Relations between the China and North Korea have been volatile recently, with the DPRK most recently suddenly cancelling state organised performances of its Morangbong band girl group in Beijing.
Additional reporting: Jiwon Park
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