North Korea is expanding its passenger train routes to China and Russia, a North Korea website said Thursday, reflecting the communist country's efforts to attract more foreign travelers.

North Korea's official portal site Naenara disclosed the expansion in its article featuring the country's international passenger train joint venture, established in April 2012, with Hong Kong.

The joint firm is currently operating three passenger train lines linking Pyongyang to China's Dandong, Beijing and Shenyang.

All the trains operated by the joint venture were built in accordance with international standards, and the best safety and convenience services are being provided to passengers on board the trains, the article said.

"All the environments and conditions necessary for travel are guaranteed at high levels," it noted.

The joint venture is also in close cooperation with a Chinese railway tour agency in Dandong over tour reservations, it added.

The article also introduced the North Korean firm's plan to open new train routes to Russian cities.

"The firm is pushing in earnest to prepare for opening the international passenger train transport linking Pyongyang to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Moscow in the near future, as well as to start a project to open new tourist information offices in the Tumen River and Rason areas," the article noted.

"In the future, the firm will further step up cooperation and exchange with many foreign nations in the passenger train sector," it also noted.

Such expansion plans reflect Pyongyang's renewed efforts to rejuvenate its tourism industry, one of its major foreign currency income sources. (Yonhap)