Organisation for Co-operation of Railways opens meeting in North Korean capital with RF participation

PYONGYANG, April 24 (Itar-Tass) - A meeting of the Organisation for Co-operation of Railways (OSZhD) opened in the North Korean capital on Thursday. It will last until April 28. Taking part in the forum are Russia, China, North Korea and more than 20 other states. Russia’s delegation is headed by First Vice President of the JSC Russian Railways (RZD) Vadim Morozov who is expected to arrive in Pyongyang on April 26. Expert-level discussions will be held during the first two days of the conference. The meeting will focus on discussing the organisation’s plans for 2015 and following years. It will also discuss the results of the work of the OSZhD Commission on cargo and passenger traffic, on infrastructure and rolling stock, on coding and computer technology, on financial and settlement issues for 2013. The agenda includes issues of the mechanism of debt settlement between railways and admission of the Islamic Republic Afghanistan to OSZhD. The main goals of OSZhD are the development of international cargo and passenger transportation, creation of a unified railway transport space in the Eurasian region. The organisation promotes technical progress and scientific-technical co-operation in the sphere of rail transport and in the sphere of improving competitiveness of transcontinental railway routes. This year, North Korean authorities for the first time allowed representatives of South Korea’s national railway operation - Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) to attend the form as observers. Political relations between North Korea and South Korea are tense. Nevertheless, Russia has urged the two countries to come to agreement with each other and take part in the implementation of the project of connecting the inter-Korean railway with Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway (TransSib). Railway transport is an important sphere of co-operation between Russia and North Korea. Last September, the completion of the reconstruction of the railway section from Russia’s Khasan station to the North Korean city of Rajin was celebrated in the republic. The work for the creation of a universal transloading terminal in Rajin - the main port of the trade-economic zone of Rason, has also been completed. Modernisation of the Khasan - Rajin section infrastructure is regarded as a pilot part of the reconstruction of the whole Trans Korean Mainline. In the future, when the rail traffic service from the South Korean port of Pusan through North Korea to Russia is fully restored, it will be possible to transfer to Russia’s TransSib a considerable portion of the cargoes that are now shipped on transoceanic route from South Korea to Europe. The possibility of involvement of South Korean businessmen in the development of the rail transport infrastructure, including port facilities in North Korea, is currently being considered. Learn more on itar-tass.com