Summit on Track
How railway lines may decide the location of the U.S. – North Korean Summit

Photo: Shashanka Nanda

The rapid rise of air travel in the early 20th century meant that the train soon fell out of favour with heads of state. But there a remained a few, loyal to the train. The list includes Hitler, Mussolini, Marshal Tito and the North Korean trinity of Kims; Il-sung, Jong-il and Jong-un. There is perhaps something about trains that attracts dictators.

Hitler used his Führersonderzug as his headquarters of war – often travelling to frontlines and other theatres of action. Tito’s Blue Train, however, was more of a diplomatic tool. Leaders as diverse as Arafat, Haile Selassie, Nehru and Queen Elizabeth II were guests on board his rolling set of luxury suites.

But it has been the Korean lot, that have really kept presidential trains in the news over the years. Kim Il-sung once went as far west as Poland and Czechoslovakia on a tour of fraternal socialist nations. His journey took him through China, Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria among other nations. His son, Kim Jong-il regularly visited China and Russia on his trains during his tenure. But it is the grandson, Kim Jong-un who brought renewed attention to the train as a means of VVIP transportation, when images of his train emerged from Beijing in March 2018. This was his first ever visit outside his country, ever since he took over in 2011.

What happened subsequently has taken the world by surprise. Within weeks, Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot on southern soil since 1953. But even more surprising was the news that emerged on a forthcoming summit between North Korea and the United States. This came after months of heightened tension due to North Korean anti-American rhetoric and provocative ballistic missile tests. U.S. President Donald Trump responded with a typical bluster, promising to meet any North Korean attack with “Fire, fury and power, the likes of which the world has never seen before”.

Kim Jong-un’s Train

Which brings us back to the train – with the location for the meeting with Trump being shortlisted to Mongolia or Singapore. Figuring out how Kim Jong-un would make it to either destination makes for an interesting round of beer.

The train will most likely be his chosen mode of transport, as North Korea reportedly does not possess aircraft capable of flying the long distances to more common summit destinations. Its inventory consists mostly of Cold War vintage Soviet planes, and none of them have a particularly good safety record. And one doubts that the Supreme Leader would be trusting or humble enough to board a plane bearing another nation’s flag.

The train however is a different beast altogether. Assembled from a fleet of 90 coaches, a typical train includes reception halls, conference rooms and hi-tech communication facilities, in addition to luxurious dining and sleeping carriages. And the train often travels in a convoy, a pilot train running 20 minutes ahead to scan for any threats, and a support unit trailing the Supreme Leader’s service.

If the summit is held in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, his train could take him there via China. However, there remains the complication of changing gauge.

Rail gauge

The width between two rails of track on a railway line is referred to as gauge. There are a variety of gauges used around the world. For instance, India operates trains on the Narrow gauge, Metre Gauge, Standard Gauge and Broad Gauge.

While the North Korean Railways operate primarily on Standard Gauge (1435mm), which is the same as the one in China and, incidentally, also on which the Delhi Metro runs; Mongolia operates its train on a 1520mm wide track, which is the same gauge as Russia (Russian Gauge). The interchange would involve a complicated process, where all coaches will have their bogies (underbody running gear) replaced to match the Mongolian gauge. This was the same issue faced by his grandfather, on his tour of East Europe decades ago. He overcame this issue by having another train carrying matching wheelsets and axles, trailing his ride.

The route to Ulaanbaatar will most likely go via Sinuju – Beijing and then on to the Mongolian border at Zamyn-Ud, following the Mongolian branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Given that the reported top speed of the heavily armoured Korean train is only 60 kmph, the 4000 km plus, journey is going to take a long time indeed.

It gets trickier if they decide on Singapore. While the North Korean train can travel down south from Beijing via Wuhan and Nanning, it will hit trouble at the border with Vietnam. Although there exists a Standard Gauge line running all the way to Hanoi, the route towards Singapore would warrant travel into Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. All these countries operate their trains on the Metre Gauge (1000mm). This gauge is too narrow to support onward travel by changing bogies. In short, the Korean train will not be able proceed further.

More importantly, the Cambodian Railway fell into disrepair after the civil war in the country. As a result, there does not seem to be an operational rail link between Cambodia and Thailand, preventing any direct rail travel into Malaysia and Singapore.

North Korea’s Supreme Leaders have been notoriously shy of flying – often reported in the media as paranoid. So unless the recent openness shown by Kim Jong-un has also extended to aircraft, Mongolia appears to be the best bet for a summit meeting. Just not any time soon.

The least complicated rendezvous would be the Inter-Korean Peace House in Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone. Just that the US would not have forgotten 1976, when North Korean soldiers hacked 2 of its troops to death for trimming trees in the area.