North Korea has deployed about 10 diesel locomotives reserved for wartime use to ease a passenger rail transportation crisis caused by the isolated country’s chronic power shortage, according to sources inside the country.
North Korean trains, whose locomotives are usually powered by hydroelectricity, have long been suffering from severe power shortages.
But a recent decision by authorities to use diesel locomotives for passenger travel has breathed life into some routes between major cities, sources said.
This marks the first time that the diesel locomotives, which are 30 to 40 years old, have been deployed in peacetime for passenger rail service, they said. Read more