Juche
The Juche-class EMU at its unveiling after refurbishment.
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
BuilderKim Chong-t'ae Works
 North Korea
Build date3 March 1978
Specifications
Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electric system/s3,000 V DC + 25 kV 60 Hz AC
Current pickup(s)Pantographs
CouplersAAR knuckle
Performance figures
Maximum speed120 km/h (75 mph)
continuous: 64 km/h (40 mph)
Power output1,720 kilowatts (2,340 PS)
Career
OperatorsNorth Korea Korean State Railway
Class주체
Number in class≥2 set
[1]

The Juche-class (Korean: 주체) is a 4-part electric multiple unit built by the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works in 1978, intended for service on the Korean State Railway.[2]

Description

Electric railcars had been used in Korea before the war by the Kŭmgangsan Electric Railway,[3] and these were used by Korean State Railway until the line was destroyed during the Korean War,[4] and no further electric railcars were used after that for many years. However, the opening of the P'yŏngyang Metro in 1973, along with worldwide attention on high-speed electric trainsets such as the Japanese Shinkansen put into service in 1964[5] and the ER200 class introduced by the Soviet Railways in 1974,[6] led the Railway Ministry to direct efforts towards the development of an electric multiple unit for North Korea, resulting in the unveiling of North Korea's first electric trainset, the Juche-class EMU, in 3 March 1978 at Kim Jong Thae as part of the 200 day campaign.[7] Externally, the four-car set was similar in appearance to the 181 series trainsets used by the Japanese National Railways on the Kodama limited express of the day; internally, despite all of North Korea's electrification being 3000 V DC, the Juche-class EMU was built for two-system operation - possibly with a view to future operation in South Korea, where 25 kV AC electrification was used.[8]

The trainset was named 'Juche' by Kim Il Sung, in appreciation of the labour the workers of Kim Jong Thae locomotive works put into manufacturing it.[9]

Operation

Trials were carried out around P'yŏngyang, but no further sets were built.[8] The set was refurbished, repainted, and put into use on a daily commuter service for scientists between P'yŏngyang and Paesanjŏm in 1998, taking one hour to cover the 38 km (24 mi) distance each way.[2]

Philately

The train was featured on a stamp issued on 30 April 1987.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Export Directory of the DPRK. Pyongyang. p. 228.
  2. 1 2 Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 95, ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6
  3. ↑ "鉄道省革命事績館". www.2427junction.com.
  4. ↑ 《기차시간표》(1950년 4월 1일 개정), 북한 교통성 운수국 렬차부 편
  5. ↑ Semmens, Peter (1997). High Speed in Japan: Shinkansen - The World's Busiest High-speed Railway. Sheffield, UK: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-872524-88-5.
  6. ↑ Dymant, Yu., Скоростной поезд ЭР200, Наука и жизнь, issue 6, 1974, pp. 42-44
  7. ↑ "새형의 지상전동차<주체>호를 만들었다". Rodong Sinmun. March 7, 1978. p. 1.
  8. 1 2 Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 77, ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6
  9. ↑ "Electric train of new styled "Juche" turned out". Democractic People's Republic of Korea. July 1978.
  10. ↑ "KoreanStamp | Stamp Catalogue". korstamp.com.kp. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
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