A solemn ribbon-cutting ceremony was held today, July 18, 2014, for a new rail transshipment terminal inaugurated in the North Korean port of Rajin, which launched freight carriage through the border crossing Hassan, Russia and Tumen, North Korea, the Russian Railways said in a press release.
The event was attended by RZD President Vladimir Yakunin, the DPRK Minister of Railways Jeong Gil Su, head of the Far Eastern Railway Mikhail Zaichenko, other dignitaries and representatives of international business community.
Opening of the new terminal has completed a pilot project on the reconstruction of part of the Trans-Korean Railway. Work was carried out by Russian-Korean JV "RasonKonTrans" in conjunction with JSC Trading House RZD, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, and the port of Rajin.
Terminal is a modern high-technology multifunctional facility, which is able to handle five million tonnes of freight a year. At the initial stage the rail transport will haul to the port of Rajin primarily coal and other bulk cargoes. The terminal will provide handling and storage of cargoes and the magnetic coal cleaning system and sorting according to the specific request of the consumers on the quality of the commodity.
In the framework of the international visit, Vladimir Yakunin and Jeong Gil Su held a bilateral working meeting to discuss prospects of further cooperation.
Currently JSC Russian Railways with a consortium of South Korean companies (POSCO, HMM, KORAIL) begin to work together to develop a mechanism to implement the project in the format of trilateral cooperation that in the future will allow for the resumption of railway communication on the Korean peninsula with access to the Trans-Siberian Railway.