Kangwon Line

Kangwŏn Line
Overview
Native name	강원선(江原線)
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/freight rail Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	South Hamgyŏng Kangwŏn
Termini	Kowŏn P'yŏnggang
Stations	23
Operation
Opened	Mainline: 1913-1916 Ch'ŏnnae Branch: 1 November 1927 Koam Branch: 17 December 1943 Songdowŏn Branch: 23 September 2014
Owner	Korean State Railway
Operator(s)	Korean State Railway
Technical
Line length	145.8 km
No. of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC Overhead line
Route map Legend P'yŏngra Line 0.0 Kowŏn P'yŏngra Line 7.5 Chŏnt'an ↑Kowŏn/Ch'ŏnnae↓ 4.4 Ch'ŏnnae Ch'ŏnnae Branch 12.1 Ryongdam ↑Ch'ŏnnae/Munch'ŏn↓ 7.4 Koam 22.0 Okp'yŏng Koam Branch 29.4 Munch'ŏn ↑Munch'ŏn/Wŏnsan↓ 36.5 Tŏkwŏn 42.0 Wŏnsan Songdowŏn Branch P'yŏngyang–Wŏnsan Tourist Motorway Songdowŏn Segil 2.0 Wŏnsanhang Wŏnsanhang Branch 46.1 Kalma ↑Wŏnsan/Anbyŏn↓ 52.8 Paehwa 57.7 Anbyŏn Kŭmgangsan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line ↑Anbyŏn/Kosan↓ 64.1 Namsan 73.5 Kwangmyŏng 81.6 Ryongjiwŏn 88.1 Kosan 97.4 Tongga-ri ↑Kosan/Sep'o↓ 102.5 Rakch'ŏn 106.4 Sambang 114.1 Sep'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ich'ŏn Line 121.3 Sŏngsan 126.3 Kŏmbullang 131.1 Ri'mok ↑Sep'o/P'yŏnggang↓ 142.0 Pokkye 145.8 P'yŏnggang 152.6 Kagok Closed ↑DPRK DMZ ↓ROK 162.6 Woljeongri Closed Gyeongwon Line

The Kangwŏn Line is a 145.8 km electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway, connecting Kowŏn on the P'yŏngra Line to P'yŏnggang, providing an east–west connection between the P'yŏngra and Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ich'ŏn lines.^[1]

Although the line continues south across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, it is non-operational south of P'yŏnggang.

The ruling gradient is 25‰, the minimum curve radius is 300 m; there are 94 bridges with a total length of 3,493 m, and 18 tunnels with a total length of 6,243 m. There are 23 stations on the line, with an average distance between stations of 6.5 km. Wŏnsan Station is the most important station on the line; in addition to its passenger infrastructure, locomotive and freight car maintenance facilities are located there.^[2]

On 5 August 2015, South Korean President Park Geun-hye attended a ceremony launching work on the reconstruction of the 9.3 km Baengmagoji–Woljeong-ri section of Korail's Gyeongwon Line, which has been closed since the Korean War, as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the partition of Korea. The works are to begin in October and are expected to be finished by 2017; the US $129 million project is being funded by the Unification Ministry. Park also stated his hope that the remaining 2.4 km section across the DMZ would be rebuilt soon, which would re-establish the old Gyeongwon line connecting Seoul to Wŏnsan.^[3]

History

The Kangwŏn Line's Wŏnsan-P'yŏnggang section was opened, along with the rest of the Kyŏngwŏn Line from Seoul to Wŏnsan, on 16 August 1914 (the Wŏnsan-Ryongjiwŏn section was completed on 21 August 1913, Pokkye-Kŏmbullang on 25 September 1913, Kosan-Ryongjiwŏn on 21 October 1913, Kŏmbullang-Sep'o on 21 June 1914, and Sep'o-Kosan on 16 August 1914,^[4] forming an important east–west transversal line.

The Wŏnsan-Kowŏn section was built as part of the Hamgyong Line of the Chosen Government Railway; this line ran on the routing of Wŏnsan-Kowŏn (now part of the Kangwŏn Line), Kowŏn-Ch'ŏngjin (now part of the P'yŏngra Line), and Ch'ŏngjin-Sangsambong (now part of the Hambuk Line).^[5] The Wŏnsan-Kowŏn section was completed in two parts: Wŏnsan-Okp'yŏng (at the time called Munch'ŏn Station) on 1 August 1915, and Munch'ŏn-Kowŏn-Kŭmya on 21 July 1916; the Kowŏn-Kŭmya section is now part of the P'yŏngra Line.^[6]

The Kyŏngwŏn Line was the first in Korea to be electrified, as part of a plan to create an electrified line all the way from Pusan to Xinjing, Manchukuo.^[7] The first stage of this plan was the electrification of the Kyŏngwŏn, Kyŏnggyŏng and Kyŏngin lines,^[7] and in March 1940, the Imperial Diet budgeted 3.6 million Yen for electrification equipment for this plan,^[8] Electrification of the Pokkye-Kosan section of the Kyŏngwŏn line began in December 1940; it was completed and commissioned on 27 March 1944,^[9] and commercial electric operations commenced on 1 April 1944.^[10]

The Kangwŏn Line was severely damaged during the Korean War, but was quickly repaired after the war. The Kowŏn-Sep'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn section of the line was electrified in September 1980, and the electrification of the Sep'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn-P'yŏnggang section was completed in early 1986.^[2]

Services

Freight

The Kangwŏn Line serves the ports at Wŏnsan and Munch'ŏn, and a number of industries including the smelter at Munch'ŏn and the May 18th Works; the primary goods received on the line are anthracite, zinc concentrates, coke, solvents etc., while the most important outbound goods include seafood and machinery. There is also a significant amount of through traffic on the line destined for points in North and South Hwanghae on the Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ich'ŏn line and beyond, such as coking coal imported from China for the Hwanghae Steel Complex, wood imported from Russia and chemical fertilisers produced in the Hamhŭng area^[2]

Passenger

The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line:^[1]

• Express trains 13/14, operating between P'yŏngyang and P'yŏnggang, run on this line between Kowŏn and P'yŏnggang;
• Semi-express trains 117/118, operating between Taedonggang and P'yŏnggang, run on this line between Kowŏn and P'yŏnggang;
• Semi-express trains 128-129-130/131-132-133, operating between Kalma and Rajin, run on this line between Kalma and Kowŏn.

In the past, there was a passenger service operated between Sariwŏn and Hamhŭng which ran via the Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ich'ŏn line and the Sep'o-Kowon section of the Kangwŏn line and another between Wŏnsan and P'yŏnggang,^[2] but the status of these trains at present is not known.

Route

Mainline

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

Ch'ŏnnae Branch

This freight-only branchline was opened on 1 November 1927 to transport cement from the Ch'ŏnnae Cement Factory at Ch'ŏnnae Station (at the time called Ch'ŏnnae-ri Station) to Ryongdam Station on the Hamgyong Line.^[6][11] It was electrified in the 1980s.

Koam Branch

This non-electrified branchline of the Kangwŏn Line is also known as the Munch'ŏn Port Line (Chosŏngŭl: 문천항선, Hanja: 文川港線, Munch'ŏnhangsŏn).

The line was originally opened by the Chosen Anthracite Company (Japanese: 朝鮮無煙炭株式会社, Chōsen Muentan Kabushiki Kaisha, Korean: 조선 무연탄 주식회사, Chosŏn Muyŏnt'an Chusikhoesa) on 17 December 1943 as a privately owned railway from Ok'pyŏng Station on the Hamgyŏng Line (at the time called Munch'ŏn Station) to Koam Station (at the time called Wŏnsanbukhang Station).^[12]

Songdowŏn Branch

This electrified branchline running from Wŏnsan to Songdowŏn and Segil was opened on 23 September 2014; the inaugural train was pulled by a Sŏngun Red Flag-class locomotive.^[13]

Wŏnsanhang Branch

Not electrified.

References

Kangwŏn Line Mainline Kowŏn Chŏnt'an Ryongdam Okp'yŏng Munch'ŏn Tŏgwŏn Wŏnsan Kalma Paehwa Anbyŏn Namsan Kwangmyŏng Ryongjiwŏn Kosan Tonggari Rakch'ŏn Sambang Sep'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn Sŏngsan Kŏmbullang Rimok Pokkye P'yŏnggang Woljŏngri Ch'ŏnnae Branch Ryongdam Ch'ŏnnae Koam Branch Okp'yŏng Koam Songdowŏn Branch Wŏnsan Songdowŏn Segil Wŏnsanhang Branch Kalma Wŏnsanhang