Donghae Bukbu Line

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Donghae Bukbu Line
Chosŏn'gŭl:	동해북부선
Hanja:	東海北部線
McCune-Reischauer:	Tonghae Pukpusǒn
Revised Romanization:	Donghae Bukbuseon

The Donghae Bukbu Line is a former line that connected the present-day city of Anbyon in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, with Yangyang, Gangwon Province, South Korea. It has not carried trains since the division of Korea. The line originally connected to the Kyongwon Line running from Gyeongseong (present-day Seoul) to Wonsan. It began running in 1929 between Anbyon and Hupgok, and was extended to Yangyang in 1937. Plans had called for it to be extended south to Pohang, where it would have connected with the Donghae Nambu Line. However, this extension was not completed before the fall of the Japanese regime in 1945, and since then the tracks have been idle.

With increasing talk of peaceful Korean reunification beginning in the 1990s, there have been various efforts to reopen the Donghae Bukbu Line, together with the Gyeongui Line in the west. An opened Donghae Bukbu Line would provide ready land access to the Kumgangsan resort area, which is open to South Korean tourists. However, although the cross-border tracks have been fully repaired, no actual trains have yet crossed the border. Most recently, on May 24, 2006, North Korea cancelled plans for an initial test run to have been held near the end of the month.^[1]

Currently, Korail opened Jejin station and keep some rolling stocks for trial run.