The first passenger train service between China and North Korea after a six-year hiatus is scheduled to set off from Beijing on March 12, part of a series of moves by China to shore up cross-border infrastructure and rebuild bilateral ties, Reuters reported. 

Following a 24 hour and 41 minute journey skirting north of the Bohai Sea and a stopover in China’s northeastern border city of Dandong, train K27 from Beijing is scheduled to arrive in Pyongyang at 6.07pm on March 13, according to a March 10 notice from China’s railway authority. 

China and North Korea are “friendly neighbours” and a cross-border passenger train service facilitates people-to-people exchanges between the two, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on March 11, according to Reuters.