Russian Railways carries out two pilot runs of freight trains carrying coal as part of Khasan - Rajin international transport project
Two freight trains, each consisting of 65 wagons loaded with coal from the Kuzbass region in Russia, left from West Siberian Railways at the end of March 2014, Russian Railways says in its press release. One of the trains has already reached Far Eastern Railways, the second is now travelling on the Transbaikal Main Line.
Both West Siberian Railways and Far Eastern Railways are regional divisions of Russian Railways
The two trains, which are carrying a total cargo of 9 tons, will arrive at the border station Khasan in the Russian Federation before departing for Tumangan station in North Korea, where the coal will be further transshipped to the port of Rajin.
The purpose of the test run on the new route is to improve the overall transportation process, customs clearance and cargo handling at the port.
The project is being implemented by the RasonKonTrans joint venture, which was set up in 2008 with a 70% equity stake from the RZD Trading House and the remaining 30% from the North Korean port of Rajin. It includes the reconstruction of the railway line between Tumangan - Rajin, the construction of a container terminal at the port of Rajin and the subsequent operation of the infrastructure.
The work was financed using the authorised capital of RasonKonTrans and funds the jv borrowed on the basis of the business plan.
The official opening of the Khasan - Rajin railway section took place on 22 September 2013.
In the course of the work, the reconstruction of 54km of combined railway track with a width of 1435mm and 1520mm was carried out and a number of artificial structures restored: 18 bridges, 12 culverts and 3 tunnels with a total length of over 4.5 km. In addition, modern signalling, centralisation, blocking and communications equipment was installed.
As part of the construction of the universal transshipment terminal at the port of Rajin, a range of additional activities was also conducted, including dredging, the construction of a new quay wall, equipping the warehouse areas, construction of industrial and office buildings and facilities and laying railway tracks within the terminal itself.
On completion of the project, additional traffic will be attracted to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Freight traffic on the Khasan - Rajin line via the port of Rajin is expected to reach about 4 million tons per annum.