Kumgangsan Chongnyon Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Tonghae Pukpu Line 동해북부선(東海北部線)
Native name	금강산청년선(金剛山靑年線)
Status	Operarional
Owner	Chosen Government Railway (1929–1945) Korean State Railway (since 1945)
Locale	Kangwon
Termini	Anbyŏn Kamho
Stations	17
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/freight rail Regional rail
Operator(s)	Korean State Railway
History
Opened	Stages between 1929-1937
Closed	1950 (Samilp'o - Jejin)
Reopened	17 May 2007 (Samilp'o - Jejin)
Technical
Line length	114.8 km (71.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC Overhead line (Anbyŏn - Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn)
Route map Kangwŏn Line 0.0 Anbyŏn Kangwŏn Line Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 500 m (1,600 ft)) Kŭmhwach'ŏn (bridge appx 70 m (230 ft)) (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) 8.9 Ogye (bridge appx 40 m (130 ft)) (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) 14.9 Sangŭm Ch'ŏngnyŏn (tunnel appx 100 m (330 ft)) (tunnel appx 240 m (790 ft)) (tunnel appx 220 m (720 ft)) (tunnel appx 180 m (590 ft)) (tunnel appx 135 m (443 ft)) (tunnel appx 170 m (560 ft)) (bridge appx 75 m (246 ft)) 25.2 Tongjŏngho (tunnel appx 240 m (790 ft)) 31.4 Myŏnggo (bridge appx 40 m (130 ft)) (bridge appx 50 m (160 ft)) (bridge appx 110 m (360 ft)) (bridge appx 165 m (541 ft)) Kŭmbong River 38.0 Kŭmbonggang (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) (bridge appx 50 m (160 ft)) 47.4 Sijungho (bridge appx 125 m (410 ft)) Hanch'ŏn River (tunnel appx 210 m (690 ft)) (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) 54.3 T'ongch'ŏn (bridge appx 75 m (246 ft)) Sip'ihyŏnch'ŏn (bridge appx 195 m (640 ft)) Sip'ihyŏnch'ŏn 61.0 Tonghae (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) (bridge appx 200 m (660 ft)) Kwanggyoch'ŏn 65.1 Pyŏg'yang Closed (bridge appx 120 m (390 ft)) 70.2 Ryŏmsŏng (bridge appx 110 m (360 ft)) (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) 75.7 Tup'o (bridge appx 160 m (520 ft)) (bridge appx 50 m (160 ft)) (tunnel appx 155 m (509 ft)) (tunnel appx 620 m (2,030 ft)) 86.2 Nam'ae (tunnel appx 240 m (790 ft)) (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) (bridge appx 40 m (130 ft)) (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) 93.2 Kosŏng (tunnel appx 180 m (590 ft)) (tunnel appx 130 m (430 ft)) (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) 101.0 Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn (bridge appx 50 m (160 ft)) 109.2 Samilp'o (bridge appx 250 m (820 ft)) Nam River 111.4 Kosŏng Closed (bridge appx 360 m (1,180 ft)) 114.8 Kamho engine house ↑DPRK (Kosŏng-gun) DMZ ↓ROK (Goseong-gun) (bridge appx 40 m (130 ft)) (tunnel appx 115 m (377 ft)) (tunnel appx 70 m (230 ft)) (tunnel appx 70 m (230 ft)) (tunnel appx 65 m (213 ft)) 125.9 Jejin Donghae Bukbu Line

The Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea running from Anbyŏn to Kamho. The total length of the line is 114.8 km (71.3 mi), but it is only in regular use as far as Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn; the length of the line to there is 101 km (63 mi).^[1]

History

The line was originally built by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) as part of the Tonghae Pukpu Line, from Anbyŏn on Sentetsu's Kyŏngwŏn Line to Yangyang. The construction and opening of the line took place in several stages, with the first section opening on 1 September 1929, and the last on 1 December 1937. Plans were made to extend the line from Yangyang to Pohang, but Japan's defeat in the Pacific War and the subsequent collapse of the General-Government of Korea prevented completion of the extension.

After the partition of Korea, the line was split between the North and South, with the section from Anbyŏn to Kamho becoming the Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line in the north, while the section from Chejin to Yangyang became the Tonghae Pukpu Line operated by the Korean National Railroad.^[1]

Electrification of the line was completed on 15 April 1997.^[1]

In 2007, after the reconstruction of the disused section between Kamho and Jejin, passenger trains began operating from the south to bring southern tourists to the Mount Kŭmgang Tourist Region.^[2] More than one million civilian visitors crossed the DMZ until the route was closed following the shooting death of a 53-year-old South Korean tourist in July 2008.^[3] Plans are being considered which would see the line become part of a trans-Korean line from Pohang to Tumangang, to connect South Korea's railway network to the Trans-Siberian Railway.^[2]

Route

A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.

References