Russia Gambles On North Korea Railway Link To Connect Europe & Asia
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Russia has reopened a 54km cross-border freight railway from its eastern border town of Khasan to the North Korean port of Rajin, in the hopes that the train network could eventually link across to South Korea and transport goods to the rest of Asia, according to a Bloomberg report.
Russia has reopened a 54km cross-border freight railway from its eastern border town of Khasan to the North Korean port of Rajin, in the hopes that the train network could eventually link across to South Korea and transport goods to the rest of Asia, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Khasan-Rajin rail link is expected to carry 100,000 freight containers a year and is part of a larger project, dubbed the Iron Silk Road, that would connect Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway from Europe overland to Asia.
Initially, the route is expected to transport Russian coal to markets in the Asia-Pacific region, though the second phase of the project is likely to involve the construction of a container-handling facility and potentially an oil terminal at the North Korean site, said Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin during a ceremony in Rajin on Sunday.
“Our common objective is for this link and port to be a pilot scheme for the restoration of a single transport system in North and South Korea that would link the peninsula to countries that gravitate to this region, to Europe via Russia,” Yakunin said, as cited by Bloomberg.
[quote]“We, railway workers, are set for cooperation. We always work for peace, and we hope that this project will not only promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, but help friendly and peaceful relations between our countries,” Yakunin was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.[/quote]Related: Russia To Write Off 90 Percent Of North Korea’s Debt
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Work on the railway link officially began in 2008, eight years following an agreement signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.
Moscow has borne around 70 percent of the full construction cost, estimated at around 8.3 billion rubles ($260.5 million), while Pyongyang covers the remainder.
According to Bloomberg, much of the project’s success will depend on improved ties between North and South Korea, though the freight terminal being built at Rajin may potentially also be able to export nearly 4 million tons a year of coal.
“The project will allow restoring in future railway traffic on the entire Trans-Korean Railway,” said a Russian Railway spokesman to the Moscow Times, adding that the future linkup with South Korea could become the “shortest transport route to Europe”.
Cargo transshipment from Asia to Europe along the route would take just 14 days, compared to 45 days via sea, estimated Russian authorities.
[quote]The new rail connection “will promote the joint economic and transport development of the two countries and welfare of their peoples,” added North Korean Railways Minister Chon Kil-su.[/quote]
