North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was afraid of flying and like his father Kim Il-Sung, he preferred to travel by train. Since the creation of the state, all three North Korean leaders have used high-security armoured trains for domestic and international travel. Kim Il-sung even travelled by train to every socialist country in Eastern Europe in 1974. He travelled via China, through the Soviet Union and stopped in Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania. Kim Jong-Il travelled 2,800 miles to Ulan-Ude in Russia in 2011 to meet Dmitry Medvedev and it is commonly believed that he died on board a train in December of that year.

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The famous olive green armored train made the news again this week as Kim Jong-Un made his way to Hanoi for his meeting with President Trump. The following infographic provides key information about North Korea's state-train and according to intelligence reports (information about the train is not readily available), Kim has 90 armored carriages at his disposal. When he travels somewhere, there are actually three trains - an advance security one and a third carrying bodyguards and supplies in addition to his own. All that armor does have a drawback though and the train's speed is now estimated to only be 37 mph. That means Kim's long 2,800 mile journey to Hanoi is thought to have taken two and a half days. In future, it might be less stressful for him to travel to his next international summit on an Air China 747, like he did when he went to Singapore.

Source:

Statista

First Published:Feb 27, 2019 10:52 AM IST