After a six-year pause, an international sleeper train is once again rolling from Beijing to Pyongyang. China on Thursday restarted passenger rail service between the two capitals, a route halted in 2020 as COVID-19 shut borders. Train K27 now makes the roughly 25-hour journey four days a week, with an overnight run that includes a stop in the border city of Dandong, Chinese rail officials said. Seats on the first Beijing–Pyongyang departure—reportedly limited to business visa holders, government officials, and reporters—sold out, per Reuters, though a Beijing travel agency said tickets for a later date were still on offer.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson framed the move as a way to support “people-to-people exchanges” between “friendly neighbors,” though international travelers will be allowed in certain carriages, per the BBC. A shorter Dandong–Pyongyang segment will run daily in both directions, beginning Thursday. North Korea, which remains mostly closed to foreign tourists aside from tightly controlled Russian groups, has already resumed limited air links: flag carrier Air Koryo restarted flights to China in 2023 and now flies between the capitals twice a week.