For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia and North Korea plan to reactivate a direct passenger train route linking their capital cities next week. 

Russian Railways said Monday on the Telegram messenger service that it agreed with North Korea’s railways ministry to resume the service next Tuesday. 

The Moscow-Pyongyang passenger train will operate twice a month, departing from Pyongyang on the third and the 17th of each month and arriving in Moscow on the eleventh and the 25th.

Russian Railways said the route spans more than ten-thousand kilometers and called the eight-day trip the world’s longest direct rail journey.

Train service between Pyongyang and Khabarovsk, a Russian city close to China’s northeastern border, will restart next Thursday and operate once a month.