Train between China and North Korea returns after six years and tickets are sold out

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's train arrives in Beijing, China, on September 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Tickets for the first passenger train in six years between Beijing and Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, sold out before its departure scheduled for March 12. The information was released this Tuesday (10) by an official Chinese ticket office.
Rail service had been suspended since 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The resumption reestablishes an important transport link between largely isolated North Korea and China, the country's main economic ally.
Tickets for the trip - restricted to travelers with business visas - were purchased by businesspeople, government officials and journalists, according to the Beijing ticket office. There were still tickets available for the next trip, scheduled for March 18.
China's railway authority said in a statement that trains between Beijing and Pyongyang will operate four times a week in each direction: on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Trains between Dandong, China, and Pyongyang should run daily.
See the videos that are trending on g1
According to the statement, the resumption of service from March 12 should "further promote travel, trade and economic cooperation between China and North Korea", in addition to expanding exchanges and friendship between the two countries.
North Korea remains closed to most foreign tourism. There are limited exceptions, mainly for groups of Russian tourists, under restricted conditions, according to travel agencies that organize tours to the country.
Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists made up the majority of foreign visitors to North Korea, according to these agencies.
Organizers said on Monday (9) that North Korea has canceled next month's Pyongyang Marathon for unspecified reasons. The race is one of the few events in the country open to international participants.
VIDEOS: most watched on g1

Source: G1