Application for opening ‘Vladi~Rason’ bus route… Upon approval, up to 14 trips per day

With the opening of the Duman River automobile bridge connecting Russia and North Korea last September, it was confirmed that an application for opening an international regular bus route connecting Vladivostok and Rason was received by the Russian Ministry of Transport.

As a result of the US Radio Free Asia (RFA) checking the 'international regular passenger route application status' on the Russian Ministry of Transportation website on the 12th, applications for opening a bus route connecting Vladivostok and Rason were received twice on the 12th and 26th of last month.

According to the application, the route starts from the Vladivostok Bus Terminal, passes through the Khasan Automobile Checkpoint and the Duman River Automobile Checkpoint in North Korea, and continues through Seonbong to the Rason Bus Terminal.

The one-way route is 327.2 km, and the travel time, including border crossing time, is set at 6 hours and 45 minutes. It is a route that travels directly between the two countries without intermediate stops.

Both applications were based on daily operation throughout the year, and the number of operations was divided half between the Russian designated carrier and the foreign carrier.

The first application, received on the 12th of last month, included a plan for each transport company to make a total of 10 round trips, 5 times a day. The second application received on the 26th included a plan to operate each vehicle twice a day.

If both applications are approved, buses between the two countries are expected to run up to 14 times a day.

Fares are set differently depending on the departure point. The one-way fare from Vladivostok was listed as 2,300 rubles (about $28) in the first application and 2,500 rubles (about $30) in the second application.

On the other hand, the fare for departure from Rason was set in Chinese yuan, not North Korean won or Russian ruble. The estimated fares are 220 yuan (about $33) and 240 yuan (about $36), respectively.

It is known that the use of Yuan has become common in the Rason area due to the high traffic of Chinese people.

However, the document is not a final approval letter from the Russian Ministry of Transport, but an announcement of the status of application reception, and actual approval or the start of bus operation has not yet been confirmed.

Previously, in July, Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency, citing a Foreign Ministry official, reported that Russia plans to open a bus route connecting Vladivostok and the Rason Special Economic Zone within the year, and that travel company Vostok Intour was selected as the operator of the route.

The Duman River automobile bridge connecting North Korea and Russia opened in September, but vehicle traffic does not appear to be active yet.

Looking at the area of ​​the Dumen River Bridge taken by Planet Labs, an American commercial satellite company, on the 12th, RFA reported that construction is still in progress at the Russian customs office. For the past two months, there has been virtually no movement of vehicles, including cargo trucks, at the customs complex.