Koreas agree daily train service

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7106825.stm

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Cargo trains will run every day across the fortified border between North and South Korea from next month, officials from the two nations have agreed.

Beginning on 11 December, the freight service will connect South Korea with a joint industrial zone in the North.

The rail link, agreed in principle at a leaders' summit in October, will be the first between in more than 50 years.

A start date was fixed earlier this month and officials negotiated through the night to agree on a daily service.

The trains will run on a 25km (16-mile) section of track linking Munsan in the South with Bongdong in the North.

The new service is expected to slash the cost of transporting products to and from the Kaesong industrial park, just north of the border.

Several South Korean firms have bases in Kaesong, where they have access to cheaper labour, and at the moment trucks move raw materials and finished goods back and forth across the border.

The deal is a step forward for South Korea, which has been pushing for a regular rail link between the two nations.

It is also seeking regular passenger services, as well as wider rail links with North Korea and China, but Pyongyang has opposed this.