A new train line connecting China’s Dalian to Dandong on the border with North Korea began operating today, according to local media reports.

The 290 kilometer line runs along the Chinese coast, can travel up to 200 km per hour and marks the end of a five year construction project.

“It’s a passenger focused train but was also built for freight. The journey time is 90 minutes but it is likely to take nearly 2 hours due to a number of intermediate stations,” Lee Chang-ju, a PhD candidate of Fudan University in Shanghai told NK News.[/p