China’s train to North Korea lacks passengers on maiden voyage

BEIJING – Rush-hour was a notch louder at Beijing Station on March 12, as passengers scurried to board the first K27 train service in six years. Destination: Pyongyang, capital of reclusive North Korea. 

Scores of security guards swarmed the platform, as train spotters photographed two carriages destined for North Korea, distinguished by their blue and white exterior.

Aboard for the ride, which totals 24 hours for those going the whole way, was a mix of government officials, journalists and Chinese rail enthusiasts. 

The restoration of passenger rail services between China and North Korea signals stronger diplomatic and economic ties, after Covid-19 pandemic disruption decimated the flow of goods and people.

It builds on the momentum of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s attendance at a military parade in 2025 in Beijing, alongside President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. 

There’s just one problem.

Despite tickets being reportedly sold out, no one boarding in Beijing appeared to be headed to North Korea.

“This is the first time since the pandemic the train service between China and North Korea has resumed,” said a 17-year-old college student known by his internet moniker Wu Jiang, who travelled some 700km from his hometown in Henan province to witness the train depart.

“It’s significant and will help strengthen the connections.”

Mr Wu, however, only bought a ticket to the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, hoping to take photos on the platform and experience the train for roughly one hour. 

While he may eventually want to travel to North Korea, Mr Wu said visa and tour-group requirements remained a barrier – a sentiment reflected across the station, leaving Pyongyang carriages departing on their maiden trip eerily empty.

Back on track

With two of China’s major partners – Russia and Iran – now engulfed in war, and the Trump administration picking off Beijing’s other close friends such as Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Mr Xi is reverting to the “pre-Covid-19 status quo” with North Korea, said Mr Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group and former US diplomat.

“This is Beijing returning to a familiar playbook: keeping Pyongyang in its orbit through trade, tourism and infrastructure connectivity,” he added.

“China is responding to North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia, which had decreased Beijing’s relative influence, and increasing outreach from Washington and Seoul to Pyongyang.”

The Beijing–Pyongyang international passenger train will operate a two-way service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, according to the China State Railway Group. 

Two coaches designated for international passengers will be attached to Train K27, and upon arrival at Dandong Station on the Chinese side of the border, they’ll be transferred to Train 95.

After crossing into North Korea and arriving at Sinuiju Station, the train number will change to 52, continuing onward to Pyongyang. 

The dozen or so other Chinese carriages – all of them green – will terminate in Dandong.

Home to an estimated 80,000 North Koreans, it’s possible that city is where most passengers destined for Pyongyang will join the service, rather than in Beijing.

Holiday hotspot?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, some 100,000 Chinese people visited North Korea each year, representing the largest group of foreign visitors and ensuring a steady stream of hard currency. 

Passenger rail services, however, were halted in an effort to stop the flow of Covid-19.

Cargo rail links were also cut in 2020 before being restored in September 2022.

North Korea’s state airline, Air Koryo, only resumed commercial flights to Beijing in 2023. 

While the resumed train doesn’t mean Chinese tourists are going to return en masse, it ensures the infrastructure is ready. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press briefing on March 10 that China and North Korea were “close neighbors” when asked about the rail link restoration.

He added: “Maintaining regular passenger train services is important for facilitating exchange between the two peoples.”  

The milestone moment follows a recovery in trade that’s seen Chinese exports to North Korea approach pre-pandemic levels in 2025, surging by a quarter from 2024 to about US$2.3 billion (S$2.94 billion).

The resumption is also significant as it could cut the costs of sending North Koreans into China, instead of using more expensive flights. 

Beijing has long been North Korea’s primary backer, providing crucial economic lifelines as the US and its allies upheld sanctions against the isolated regime.

Pyongyang, however, has moved closer to Moscow in recent years, with Mr Kim positioning himself as a key ally to Mr Putin and sending troops to join in his war against Ukraine.

Mr Kim’s trip to Beijing in 2025 by train – his favoured mode of international transportation – signalled both sides were keen to rebalance that dynamic, with the North Korean leader holding his first in-person meeting with Mr Xi in six years.  

Expanding the bilateral relationship to tourism potentially offers Mr Kim a ready source of dollars, even as the country’s recent efforts to re-open to international visitors have yielded very mixed results. 

While tourism has long been an important revenue source for the sanctions-hit regime, the country has been allowing only a trickle of inbound tourists from Russia.

North Korean authorities keep close tabs on overseas visitors, who are usually required to stay at designated lodgings and restricted in their movements. 

In July 2025, North Korea opened a new beach resort on its east coast, considered one of Mr Kim’s pet projects, though it limited access for foreigners except Russian tourists.

Just this week, North Korea cancelled the annual Pyongyang International Marathon scheduled to take place in March citing only “some reasons” that it didn’t specify. 

Still, there are growing expectations for Chinese tourism in North Korea after a Chinese envoy visited the Wonsan Resort in February.

“Both North Korea and China must be feeling pressure over military operations driven by Trump,” said Professor Park Won Gon, an international relations expert at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

“North Korea has every reason to secure firm backing from China after seeing what happened in Venezuela and Iran.” 

Back at the Beijing platform, the picture seemed less clear. 

Five railway employees in North Korea-bound carriages stood to attention as the train pulled away, waiting on passenger-less compartments with pristine white bedding and coffee tables with gleaming glass ashtrays. BLOOMBERG