Kim Jong Un traveling to the US-NK summit in Vietnam by rail

[Yavianice]

"The Beast" has already left North Korea and is currently heading to Beijing for a quick meetup with Xi-Jinping. Then (some reports suggest) the train will drive to Vietnam.

 

If true that seems like a humongous undertaking since the train can only go very slowly because it's too heavy, and it seems to me is a bit hard to guard for the whole route to Hanoi? I guess we will see.

 

https://www.dw.com/en/north-korean-armored-train-enters-china-while-vietnam-awaits-kim-jong-un/a-47659012

 

P.S.: Please try to refrain from political comments.

[railsquid]

He certainly prefers travelling by train.

 

I always thought Vietnam railways were metre gauge so was wondering what they would do about that, but turns out the connection to China is standard gauge (and there's even a Hanoi-Peking through service for people who don't own their own train).

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

I think, but I may be wrong, that the s.g. connection from China into Vietnam was put in during the time of the Vietnam War, so that the Chinese could supply the Vietnamese with war material.

Does any one know what comrade Kim's special train looks like, or does anyone with a camera who gets within 200 yards of this train disintegrates?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[miyakoji]

Apparently there is an intact rail connection, although it's usually freight-only.  It's between Lào Cai on the Vietnamese side and Hekou on the Chinese side.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lào_Cai_railway_station

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/河口站_(云南省) Chinese Wikipedia, no English page

 

I've never looked into this topic before and it's not clear if there are other connections.  I wasn't sure if one would exist because of...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_conflicts,_1979–1991

 

[railsquid]

It's almost like I didn't post this comment  ...

[railsquid]

1 hour ago, ben_issacs said:

Folks, 

I think, but I may be wrong, that the s.g. connection from China into Vietnam was put in during the time of the Vietnam War, so that the Chinese could supply the Vietnamese with war material.

Does any one know what comrade Kim's special train looks like, or does anyone with a camera who gets within 200 yards of this train disintegrates?

 

 

Here you go: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kim+jong+un+train&tbm=isch

[chadbag]

This line is dual gauge and passes into China. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi–Đồng_Đăng_Railway

 

This is the line on the Vietnamese side of the service that railsquid mentioned 

[miyakoji]

54 minutes ago, railsquid said:

It's almost like I didn't post this comment  ...

 

yeah sorry man I missed it

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

At least Kim Il does travel by train, very few of world leaders now do so.

Political?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[gavino200]

31 minutes ago, ben_issacs said:

Folks, 

At least Kim Il does travel by train, very few of world leaders now do so.

Political?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

Kim III

[katoftw]

His father did it.  So he does it.

 

But to be honest, the only place his father went was China.  So train works.

[Kiha66]

I assume it is for reasons of safety, cost, and comfort.  While NK does have an international airline, they're known to have had many accidents and for a time were banned in the EU due to regular safety violations.  I don't blame Kim for not wanting to fly with them.  In the past when he flew he used chartered Chinese aircraft, such as when he went to the last summit with the US president.  The train is also reportedly very luxurious and probably functions as a very comfortable home away from home for Kim and his entourage without having to worry about the accommodations available on the trip.

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Doesn't the Korean People's Air Fo0rce have special VIP aircraft for the transportation of their country's leader?

But I suppose that the Presidential train would also transport the special motor vehicles for the leader and his retinue to  use on the streets. 

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Kiha66
Broken quote box

[Yavianice]

Kim Jong Un arrived at the Chinese/Vietnamese border town of Dong Dang, and switched to his car to drive the last stretch to Hanoi. Video below. Apparently his grandfather also took the train to Vietnam once. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2019/feb/26/kim-jong-un-flanked-by-aides-as-he-arrives-in-vietnam-for-second-summit-with-donald-trump-video

[Kiha66]

14 minutes ago, ben_issacs said:

Doesn't the Korean People's Air Fo0rce have special VIP aircraft for the transportation of their country's leader?

 

Nope, the only known transport aircraft in the DPRK are smaller propeller planes, and the single national airline with a handful of soviet export midsized jets.  Nothing nearly as comfortable or robust as a private train.

[Suica]

6 hours ago, ben_issacs said:

Folks, 

Doesn't the Korean People's Air Fo0rce have special VIP aircraft for the transportation of their country's leader?

Kim Jong-Un is the first NK leader who actually used aircraft before. He has an IL-62M modified for VIP transport.

Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il saw aircraft as unsafe /were scared to fly, which is why NK had a presidential train for decades. 

Why does Kim Jong-Un use the train instead of the aircraft in this case? Well, just look at all the news articles.

 

 

Funfact: The longest trip the NK government train ever took was in 1984 when Kim Il-Sung visited East Germany.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Suica

[Yavianice]

Here is some more info about Kim’s train trip, including some videos of the train going to Vietnam (those are rare because of Chinese censors... I mean, nobody wanted to film it at all! Can you imagine?)

 

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/3kg7b9/trump-kim-summit-hanoi-train-china

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Well it looks like Kim Ill didn't go all the way to Hanoi by train only to the China-Vietnam border, thence by car.

One wonders if the s.g. line to Hanoi wouldn't take the weight of the 'bullet proof' cars?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[Socimi]

I supect the Vietnam railways track maintenance department will have to do a bit of extra work after Kim's vault-on-wheels goes back to North Korea...

[Kiha66]

While most of the journey seemed to use DF11z locomotives like normal, the train was spotted finishing its journey using an older DF4d in what I believe to be the post rebuild passenger scheme.  I wonder why.

 

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Saw a video of Kim's train going through Beijing, it had twenty cars and a big, double diesel (DF 11z?) as its power unit.

But, as it seems that it didn't enter Vietnam, the Vietnam Rlys. track gangs can take it easy with regard to track repairs after its  passage.

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

[Socimi]

21 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

While most of the journey seemed to use DF11z locomotives like normal, the train was spotted finishing its journey using an older DF4d in what I believe to be the post rebuild passenger scheme.  I wonder why.

 

 

Either the DF11Z weren't equipped with a required saftey system for a particular section of the line or, more simply, they broke down.

[Yavianice]

Here is a nice clear video of the train rolling into Vietnam. Obviously the cameraman didn't realize how long the train would be. And the translator at 4:28 forgot how fast Kim Jong Un can get off a train.

 

 

[Yavianice]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:30 AM, Socimi said:

Either the DF11Z weren't equipped with a required saftey system for a particular section of the line or, more simply, they broke down.

 

Maybe they switched loco's with another korean train on the way, since apparently there are 2 accompanying trains whenever Kim's train is running.