Chaokai Railway

Chaokai Railway
Overview
Native name	朝开铁路 (Cháokāi Tiělù)
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Jilin Province
Termini	Chaoyangchuan Kaishantun
Stations	6
Operation
Opened	March 1934
Owner	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway
Technical
Line length	58.4 km (36.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend Changtu Railway 0.0 Chaoyangchuan 朝阳川 Changtu Railway 9.7 Sanfengdong 三峰洞 18.6 Longjing 龙井 Helong Railway 28.7 Dongshengyong 东盛涌 41.4 Badaohe 八道河 58.4 Kaishantun 开山屯 Tumen River (↑China—DPRK↓ Hambuk Line(Korean State Railway) 60.6 Sambong

The Chaokai Railway (朝开铁路, Cháokāi Tiělù) is a 58.4 km (36.3 mi) freight-only^[1] railway line of the China Railway in Jilin Province, China, connecting Chaoyangchuan on the Changtu Railway with Kaishantun. The line formerly crossed the Tumen River to reach Sambong in modern-day North Korea, but the bridge has since had the tracks removed, and is in use as a road crossing.^[1]

History

In 1917, the Chosen Government Railway's (Sentetsu) Hamgyeong Line reached Hoeryeong.^[2] Soon afterwards the Domun Railway began construction of its mainline from Hoeryeong to Donggwanjin, reaching Sambong (then called Sangsambong) in 1920, Jongseon in 1922 and finally Donggwanjin in 1924.^[3] The narrow-gauge Tiantu Railway (天圖鐵道, Chinese: Tiāntú Tiědào; Japanese: Tento Tetsudō) was opened in 1923, and its bridge across the Tumen River between Sangsambong and Kaishantun was opened on 30 September 1927.^[1] In 1929 the Domun Railway was nationalised and absorbed by Sentetsu,^[3] and on 1 August 1933, Sentetsu's new line from the port at Unggi to Hoeryoeng was completed.^[4] In the same year, the Manchukuo National Railway ("MNR") completed its Jingtu Line from Xinjing (now Changchun), the capital of Manchukuo, to Tumen.

In October 1933, the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) took over management of Sentetsu's entire line from Ch'ŏngjin to Unggi, ^[5] and at that time, the Hoeryŏng–Sangsambong section was added to the existing (Wŏnsan–Ch'ŏngjin) Hamgyŏng Line, the Sambong–Namyang section was renamed the North Chosen Western Line (Puksŏn-sŏbusŏn, 북선서부선), and the Namyang–Unggi section was renamed North Chosen East Line (Puksŏn-tongbusŏn, 북선동부선).^[6] Connecting the Jingtu Line with the North Chosen East Line would create a short, direct route from Japan to Xinjing and Harbin, and so National Railway bought the Tiantu Railway in 1933.

The MNR began work on the Chaokai Line in 1933, regauging the Tiantu Railway's line from 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge to standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)) and making a shorter, more direct line from Kaishantun to Chaoyangchuan on the Jingtu Line, opening the new line for use at the end of March 1934.^[1] The line at once became a very important link between Japan and the Asian mainland via the Korean port of Rajin.

In 1940 there were seven passenger trains between Chaoyangchuan and Sambong and eight from Sambong to Chaoyanghcuan, with a second-class ticket for the full distance costing 1 Manchukuo yuan 8 chiao 3 fen, and a third-class ticket costing 1 yuan 1 chiao. Travel time ranged from as short as 3 hours (Train 1220, leaving Sambong at 9:55 AM and arriving at Chaoyangchuan at 2:05 PM), to as long as 4 hours 5 minutes (Train 1222, leaving Sambong at 4:40 PM and arriving at Chaoyangchuan at 8:45 PM). There were also several trains over shorter relations, including Chaoyangchuan–Badaohe and Chaoyangchuan–Longjing.^[7]

References

• Ma Qianli, Wang Kaiji, "中国铁路建筑编年简史（1881-1981)" (Brief History of Chinese Railway Architecture (1881-1981)), China Railway Publishing House, Beijing, 1983.