A Russian train carrying tourists reportedly departed for North Korea this week for the first time in four years. 

According to Radio Free Asia on Friday, Russia’s Federal Customs Service said on its official Telegram channel the previous day that a Russian train carrying tourists had left for North Korea. 

The customs service reportedly said that after a four-year break, Ussuriysk customs officers processed the first passenger train to leave for North Korea, adding that 41 Russian tourists were on the train, which left for the North Thursday morning. 

The customs agency reportedly said that the railway service was previously suspended due to the pandemic at the request of the North Korean side.

It's uncertain whether the two nations will provide passenger train services regularly.

Ussuriysk, a Russian Far East city located about 100 kilometers north of Vladivostok, serves as a railway hub connecting the Russian border city of Khasan and North Korea’s Najin.