The services will connect Beijing and Dandong with Pyongyang, helping facilitate cross-border travel and boost economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the Chinese railway operator said.

PYONGYANG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- An international passenger train from the city of Dandong in northeast China's Liaoning Province to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday.

Xinhua reporters witnessed the arrival at a railway station in central Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK.

Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wang Yajun, some other Chinese diplomats, and an official in charge of external affairs at the DPRK railway ministry came to the platform of the station to greet the passengers arriving on the train.

Extending a warm welcome, Wang described the resumption of the rail link as "a good development the peoples from both countries have been looking forward to and a significant event in bilateral relations."

China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. announced Tuesday that international passenger trains connecting China and the DPRK would begin operating in both directions on Thursday.

The services will connect Beijing and Dandong with Pyongyang, helping facilitate cross-border travel and boost economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the Chinese railway operator said.

Trains between Beijing and Pyongyang will run four days a week, with two-way services scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, while the Dandong-Pyongyang train service will operate daily in both directions, the operator said.

The train link was suspended in January 2020.