OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2013. Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, and Jeong Gil Soo, North Korea's Minister of Railways (MOR), have held talks in Moscow on implementing a joint project to reconstruct the railway stretch between Khasan - Rajin. A protocol was signed following the meeting.

The parties confirmed that the project to reconstruct the line from Rajin station to Khasan station and the port of Rajin is already in the final stages.

According to the document, it is planned to create a single control center with the participation of experts from the joint ventures RasonKonTrans and ZHTK Donghae MOR from North Korea to handle traffic management and facilitate collaboration with the entire railway network in North Korea. The parties also agreed to develop instructions for the movement of trains and a train timetable.

The project is being implemented in accordance with agreements reached in 2000 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in the framework of cooperation between the two countries and as part of a project to restore traffic on the entire Trans-Korean Main Line. Over the long term, this will allow most traffic between South Korea Europe, Russia and the CIS countries to be sent by rail by the Trans-Siberian Railway.

As part of the Khasan - Rajin project, it was planned to reconstruct the combined dual-track railway with 1520 mm and 1435 mm gauges on the stretch from the Russian border to the port of Rajin in North Korea, a distance of 54 km, reconstruct three tunnels, repair a border railway bridge and construct a freight terminal with an annual capacity of 4 million tons at Port Rajin.

The project is being implemented by the joint venture RasonKonTrans, which was specially set up in 2008 and is owned by OAO RZD Trading House and the port of Rajin.

The stretch between Rajin and Tuman stations is estimated at 99.8% complete. Work on commissioning the signalling, centralisation and blocking equipment has been completed along the entire section with the exception of Rajin station. The tunnels are now fully ready. As of mid-May 2013, all the work to replace the timber on the Korean border bridge "Friendship" has been carried out. Currently, work is underway to finish the bridge and install the railing.

At the port of Rajin, concrete is being laid and building foundations are being installed at the administrative and amenity building, repair shop and spare parts warehouse, work has begun on laying and ballasting the railway lines within the terminals and utility lines are being laid. Equipment continues to be installed at the harbour wall. Work on installing outdoor lighting and fencing the port terminal's territory is also ongoing.