ASIA: The Red Express

The first direct express from Peking arrived last week at Moscow's Yaroslavsky Station 5,623 miles away. Its timetable :

PEKING Iv. . . . 1805 hrs. (Peking time) Jan. 31.

MOSCOW arr. .. . 1200 hrs. (Moscow time) Feb. 9.

Another seven-coach train "equipped with all up-to-date facilities" left Moscow for Peking at the same time. Its passenger list of 140, as described by Peking radio: "Soviet experts who have come to help on China's reconstruction, Rumanian technicians who have come to work in China, Chinese students studying abroad, and more than 50 Korean students on their way home. With the comfortable facilities provided and excellent service by Soviet and Chinese conductors on board the train during the nine-day journey, all the passengers arrived here in the best of spirits."

Henceforth, said Peking, trains will leave for Moscow every Monday and Thursday. Running time: 8 days 23 hrs.