By Ian Werther in News — 13 Mar 2026

Beijing-Pyongyang Rail Link Resumes After Six Years, US Allies Watch

A passenger train linking Beijing and Pyongyang resumed service for the first time in six years, departing Beijing this afternoon and heading toward the North Korean capital. The revival is being watched closely in Seoul and Washington, where officials say it could affect regional diplomacy, trade, and security dynamics, even as the service is initially more formal than tourist-friendly.

Crowds gathered at Beijing Railway Station as the first Beijing–Pyongyang train prepared to leave, with many hoping to ride the new service. North Korean passengers, however, were not seen boarding the train. Chinese authorities restricted access to the North Korean cars, officials said after the departure.

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Olympic Closing Ceremony - 24 August 2008
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) provides soldier-athletes the opportunity to compete toward qualifying for the United States Olympic team. Qualified soldiers must be nationally ranked in their chosen sport and be certified by the United States Olympic Committee at a world class level. Athletes join the program at least three years before the Olympic Trials. To be eligible for the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, soldiers must currently be a member of the Active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. Soldiers must also be eligible to represent the USA in international competitions and demonstrate the potential to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team or U.S. Paralympic Team.

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The train will travel via the Chinese border city of Dandong, and is expected to reach Pyongyang around 6 p.m. local time on the following day. From Pyongyang, the service is planned to depart around 10:30 a.m. and arrive back in Beijing the next morning. The schedule envisions four weekly runs in each direction.

Ticketing for the service is tightly controlled. Online sales are not available, and tickets can only be purchased in five Chinese regions: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanhaiguan, Shenyang, and Dandong. In Beijing, travelers must buy at a ticket office inside a building visible to observers. Airline-like convenience is limited by higher entry requirements.

Travel officials say ordinary travelers seeking to go to North Korea must obtain visas in advance, and a copy of the passport’s first page is required when applying. With the line now open again, Dandong-based travel agencies report a surge of inquiries about Pyongyang tourism, even though the route and its accessibility remain tightly managed.

Northen Beijing Church, the biggest church in Beijing which was build in 1703. Here, the correlation and collocation between the Chinese and the European architectures present a unique style. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Analysts say the restart of cross-border passenger trains could broaden civilian exchanges between North Korea and China, a development that may influence regional diplomacy. South Korean and U.S. policy makers will watch whether closer Beijing–Pyongyang ties translate into new openings for talks on denuclearization and security on the Korean Peninsula, or whether sanctions and monitoring remain the dominant framework.

In the United States and elsewhere, observers say the move matters beyond Korea because it affects regional supply chains, investment flows, and the broader signaling around North Korea’s openness to international traffic. Beijing’s and Pyongyang’s choices about how far to open transportation links could shape economic and security calculations across Northeast Asia.

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