Russian Railways transports 420,000 t of cargo to the Port of Rajin in QI'15
In 2014, foreign-trade cargo transportation through the border crossing Khasan (Russian border)–Tumangan (North Korean border) increased 3.2 times over 2013. At the same time, the transportation of coal increased 24 times. In the first quarter of this year, this trend continued. The volume of transported goods increased several times—up to 432 000 t.
Such data were presented by President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin at the OSJD Railway Summit in Seoul.
In 2014, 280 000 t was transported, of which 238 200 t was coal. In the first quarter of 2015, 408 000 t of coal was sent to the port of Rajin.
In total, according to Mr. Yakunin, it is planned to transport 1.5 million t of coal to the port of Rajin in 2015.
Recall that Russian Railways has implemented the reconstruction of the Khasan (Russia)–Rajin (North Korea) railway section and the construction of a cargo terminal in the port of Rajin. The cost of the project amounts to 10.6 billion rubles.
"In fact, the restoration of the site is a pilot project in the reconstruction of the Trans-Korean Railway, which in the future will provide communication between North and South Korea," said Mr. Yakunin.
Since November 2014, four experimental coal transportation runs have been carried out through the port of Rajin to South Korea.
"The main task today is to ensure the involvement of enough traffic to complete the work of the railway and the terminal and provide a return on investments," emphasized the head of Russian Railways.
The capacity of the Khassan–Rajin site and the terminal is 5 million t of cargo a year. In the future, when a favorable situation is created, the terminal may be employed for the transport of containers.
"In cooperation with South Korean companies POSCO, Korail, and Hyundai Merchant Marine, a due diligence investigation was conducted and we are discussing the possibility of creating a joint venture for the operation and development of infrastructure. This project is the first practical step in the development of trilateral cooperation on the development of Trans-Korean Railway. In this venture, we count on the support of South Korean businesses, the government, and the President of the Republic of Korea," said Vladimir Yakunin.
