Starting from March 12th, international passenger trains between Beijing, Dandong, and Pyongyang in North Korea will resume operations in both directions, marking the reopening of this route six years after its closure due to the outbreak of the Wuhan virus (COVID-19, also known as the CCP virus).
On March 10th, the official Weibo account of the state-owned China National Railway Group Limited announced that starting from March 12th, 2026, international passenger trains will operate between Beijing, Dandong, and Pyongyang in both directions.
The international passenger trains between Beijing and Pyongyang will run in both directions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Stations within China such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanhaiguan, Shenyang, and Dandong, as well as stations in North Korea including Pyongyang and Sinuiju, will handle international passenger boarding operations. Immigration procedures will be carried out at the border crossings in Dandong and Sinuiju.
For the Beijing to Pyongyang route, the K27 train will have two additional carriages dedicated for international passengers. It will depart from Beijing station at 17:26 Beijing time, arrive at Dandong station and transfer to the 95 train, reaching Sinuiju in North Korea, and then continuing to Pyongyang, arriving at Pyongyang station at 18:07 local time the following day.
For the trains from Pyongyang to Beijing, the 51 train will have two additional carriages for international passengers. Departing from Pyongyang station at 10:26 local time, it will arrive at Sinuiju and then transfer to the 85 train, reaching Dandong, where the two additional carriages will attach to the K28 train continuing onto Beijing, arriving at Beijing station at 8:40 Beijing time the next day.
The daily international passenger trains between Dandong and Pyongyang will run in both directions. For the Dandong to Pyongyang route, the 95 train will depart from Dandong station at 10:00 Beijing time, transfer to the 52 train after arriving at Sinuiju, and reach Pyongyang at 18:07 local time.
Pyongyang to Dandong trains, running the 51 train, will depart from Pyongyang at 10:26 local time, transfer to the 85 train after reaching Sinuiju, and arrive in Dandong at 16:23 Beijing time.
The railway between Beijing and Pyongyang was opened in 1954. Since 2013, the trains have been running daily due to the increasing number of tourists.
Following the outbreak of the Wuhan virus and border closures, starting from January 30th, 2020, the K27/K28 trains between Beijing and Pyongyang were temporarily suspended. Additionally, from January 31st, 2020, the 95/85 trains between Pyongyang and Dandong, as well as the 7263/8271 trains between Sinuiju and Jie’an were also suspended.