Gyeongwon Line
| Gyeongwon Line | |
| Hangul | 경원선 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 京元線 |
| Revised Romanization | Gyeongwonseon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kyŏngwŏnsŏn |
The Gyeongwon Line is a railway line serving northeastern Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. The line is operated by Korail. The name of the line came from Gyeongseong (Seoul) and Wonsan, the original terminus of the line in what is now North Korea.
History
The Gyeongwon line was opened along its full length between Yongsan Station in Seoul and Wonsan on August 16, 1914.[1] The division of Korea cut the line in half in 1945. The South Korean part of the line is 88.8 km (55.2 mi) long between Yongsan and Sintan-ri.[1]
Following the 1961 coup, the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction started South Korea's first five-year plan, which included a construction program to complete the railway network, to foster economic growth.[2] As part of the program, in the outskirts of Seoul, a 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long avoiding line was built from Seongbuk to Mangu on the Jungang Line, called the Mangu Line, which opened on December 30, 1963.[2]
Upgrade
The section of the Gyeongwon Line in the Seoul metropolitan area was among the first to be electrified with the 25 kV/60 Hz AC catenary system in South Korea when it was integrated into Seoul Subway Line 1. Further sections were electrified and subway service was extended in the 1980s and then in the 2000s:[3]
| Section | Length | Start of electric operation |
|---|---|---|
| Cheongnyangni–Seongbuk | 5.6 km | August 15, 1974 |
| Yongsan–Cheongnyangni | 12.6 km | December 9, 1978 |
| Seongbuk–Chang-dong | 3.6 km | April 25, 1985 |
| Chang-dong–Uijeongbu | 9.4 km | September 2, 1986 |
| Uijeongbu–Ganeung then Uijeongbu Bukbu | 1.2 km | October 5, 1987 |
| Ganeung–Soyosan | 23.2 km | December 15, 2006 |
Altogether 55.6 km (34.5 mi) of the line was electrified, and 53.1 km (33.0 mi) was double-tracked.[1]
On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Gyeongwon Line is to be further upgraded until Uijeongbu for 230 km/h and may see KTX service.[4]
Major stations
- Yongsan the line's southern terminus south of downtown Seoul, where there is a junction with the Gyeongbu Line;
- Cheongnyangni in eastern Seoul, terminus of the Jungang Line;
- Seongbuk in eastern Seoul, terminus of the Gyeongchun Line until December 2010;
- Uijeongbu, terminus of the Gyowae Line; and
- Sintan-ri, the line's northern terminus and the northernmost railhead in South Korea.
North Korean section
The North Korean section, between Pyonggang and Wonsan has been extended northwards to Kowon[5] and now forms the Kangwon Line.
See also
- Transportation in South Korea
- List of Korea-related topics
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gyeongwon Line. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "경영원칙 > 경영공시 > 영업현황 > 영업거리현황". Korail. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "철마 110년, 영고의 자취 [12] 경제개발과 철도" (in Korean). Silvernet News. 2010-03-20. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
- ↑ "Electricity Almanac 2009". Korea Electric Association. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ↑ "Bullet trains coming to a town near you by 2020". JoongAng Daily. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
- ↑ Road map of Korea, North and South, published December 2010 by Freytag and Berndt, Vienna, Austria, ISBN 978-3-7079-0974-6