Train tours are gaining traction with the resumption of passenger train operation linking North Korea and Russia.

According to Radio Free Asia(RFA), 54 Russian tourists departed Russia's Khasan region on Friday for the North's border city of Rason via train. They were on a tour program organized by a travel agency in Russia's Vladivostok with authorization from the North Korean regime.

The tour group is expected to stay in Rason for four days, and visit places like Sahyang Mountain, Bipa Island and Dooman River.

Freight and passenger trains connecting Vladivostok and Rason were halted in January 2020 upon Pyongyang's border lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Freight trains resumed operation in November last year.