The first cargo train providing regular service across the border between the two Koreas in more than 50 years left Dec. 11 for the North.

The train, carrying construction materials, crossed through the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula on its journey to the North Korean border city of Kaesong, where the two Koreas operate a joint industrial zone.

The service is one of the tangible results of an October summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun that outlined a series of joint projects. It comes months after the two sides conducted a one-time test run of passenger trains on two reconnected tracks on the western and eastern sides of the peninsula.

The cargo train will make a 16.5-km round trip every weekday to North Korea.