Paektusan Chongnyon Line

Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Kilhye Line
Native name	백두산청년선(白頭山靑年線)
Status	Operational
Owner	Chosen Government Railway (1933–1945) Korean State Railway (since 1945)
Locale	North Hamgyŏng Ryanggang
Termini	Kilju Ch'ŏngnyŏn Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn
Stations	22
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail
Depot(s)	Hyesan
History
Opened	Stages between 1933-1937
Technical
Line length	141.7 km (88.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	250 m (820 ft)
Electrification	3000 V DC Catenary
Route map Legend P'yŏngra Line 0.0 Kilju Ch'ŏngnyŏn P'yŏngra Line 3.9 Pongam Closed (tunnel appx 140 m (460 ft)) (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) 10.3 Namsŏk (tunnel appx 90 m (300 ft)) (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) 18.4 Sŏnghu Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 120 m (390 ft)) (tunnel appx 200 m (660 ft)) (tunnel appx 190 m (620 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 95 m (312 ft)) switchback 22.8 P'unggye underground facility Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 105 m (344 ft)) 26.2 Chaedŏk (tunnel appx 145 m (476 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 100 m (330 ft)) (tunnel appx 130 m (430 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 85 m (279 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) 35.2 Sŏngdŏk Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 75 m (246 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 80 m (260 ft)) (tunnel appx 120 m (390 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 90 m (300 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 65 m (213 ft)) (tunnel appx 155 m (509 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 75 m (246 ft)) 43.0 Sado 47.4 Yanggok Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 85 m (279 ft)) (tunnel appx 185 m (607 ft)) Namdaech'ŏn (bridge appx 55 m (180 ft)) 57.2 Hapsu Hapsu freight yard (tunnel appx 815 m (2,674 ft)) (tunnel appx 745 m (2,444 ft)) Namgye freight yard 63.0 Namgye (tunnel appx 160 m (520 ft)) (tunnel appx 90 m (300 ft)) (tunnel appx 220 m (720 ft)) 70.0 Paeg'am Ch'ŏngnyŏn sawmill Paengmu Line (tunnel appx 2,205 m (7,234 ft)) 81.0 Ryŏngha 85.9 Ryŏngnam 90.5 Namjung Unch'ong River (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) Ryong'am Closed Ryongp'och'ŏn Ryongp'o Closed Ryongp'och'ŏn (bridge appx 45 m (148 ft)) 95.6 Saengjang Unch'ong River (bridge appx 55 m (180 ft)) 99.7 Unhŭng Unch'ong River (bridge appx 60 m (200 ft)) (tunnel appx 270 m (890 ft)) Unch'ong River (bridge appx 70 m (230 ft)) 108.7 Poan (tunnel appx 290 m (950 ft)) Unch'ong River (bridge appx 50 m (160 ft)) 116.1 Simp'ori Unch'ong River (bridge appx 95 m (312 ft)) Ilgŏn mine (tunnel appx 1,690 m (5,540 ft)) 124.6 Taeoch'ŏn (bridge appx 55 m (180 ft)) Osich'ŏn Line Hyesan No. 1 Station private 132.6 Kŏmsalli Samjiyŏn Line 137.1 Wiyŏn Hyesan Steel Mill (tunnel appx 410 m (1,350 ft)) 141.7 Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Hyesan Textile Factory Pukbunaeryuk Line

The Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary mainline of the Korean State Railway running from Kilju on the P'yŏngra Line to Hyesan on the Pukbunaeryuk Line; it connects to the narrow gauge Paengmu Line at Paeg'am Ch'ŏngnyŏn Station, and to the Samjiyŏn Line at Wiyŏn Ch'ŏngnyŏn Station.^[1]

This line traverses a very mountainous area; it has a ruling grade of 33‰ and a minimum curve radius of 250 metres. There are 74 bridges totalling 2,175 m (7,136 ft) and 24 tunnels with a total length of 8,398 m (27,552 ft). The average distance between stations is 7.1 km (4.4 mi). Service facilities on the line are at Hyesan for locomotives and at Wiyŏn and Paeg'am for rolling stock.^[2]

In order to exploit the Paektusan region's abundant forest and mineral resources, the Yanggang Forest Development Railway planned construction of a line, dubbed Hambuk Line, running from Kilju to Hyesanjin (now Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn) via Hapsu, along with a branch from Hapsu to Komusan, already at the beginning of the 1920s. The Yanggang Forest Development Railway was one of six privately owned railway companies that merged to create the Chosen Railway on 1 September 1923,^[3] but work on the planned line was not started before the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) took over the project. Sentetsu finally began construction of the line in May 1931, with the first section, 57.2 km (35.5 mi) from Kilju to Hapsu, being opened on 1 November 1933.^[4] The line was then extended several times over the following four years: 12.8 km (8.0 mi) from Hapsu to Paegam was opened on 1 August 1934^[5] and 29.7 km (18.5 mi) from Paegam to Pongduri (now Unhŭng) on 1 September 1935, and the final 42.0 km (26.1 mi) from Pongduri to Hyesanjin was completed on 1 November 1937.^[6][7]

Originally called the Kilhye Line (from the names of the two termini, Kilju and Hyesan), the line received its present name in 1978,^[8] when electrification of the line was completed in September of that year.^[2]

The planned Komusan–Musan section, using the Hambuk Line name, was finally opened in 1937 by the North Chosen Colonial Railway (a subsidiary of the Chosen Railway),^[9] whilst the section between Musan and the Kilhye Line (at Paegam instead of Hapsu as had been planned and named Paengmu Line) was finally completed as a narrow gauge railway by Sentetsu on 1 December 1944.^[10]

When the Pukbunaeryuk Line was completed to Hyesan in 1988, a northern east-west connection was finally established connecting the Manp'o Line at Manp'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn to the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line.

On 9 October 2006 an underground nuclear test was conducted at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in Kilju County, causing the closure of the line for 3-4 months after the Paegam tunnel, near Paegam Ch'ŏngnyŏn station, collapsed.^[11]

Ore and forest products account for almost 93% of freight traffic in the direction towards Kilju, while almost half of the freight in the direction towards Hyesan is coal.

Ore is shipped from Namgye, talc, kaolin and magnesite from Simp'o-ri, and iron sulphide from Unhŭng. Logs are brought from the Paengmu Line to Paegam and forwarded to a large sawmill at Wiyŏn; raw logs are also shipped to the pulp mill and plywood factory in Kilju. The majority of freight moved on the line in the direction towards Hyesan is coal from Sinmyŏngch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line destined for use by residents and power plants in the region, along with grains, anthracite, fertiliser, cement etc. for local use.^[2]

Passenger traffic on the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn line is significant, with much of that traffic being for visitors to the various "historic sites of the Revolution" in the region. There are also trains for local travellers, including connection to trains on the Samjiyŏn Line.^[2]

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

• Express trains 1/2, operating between P'yŏngyang and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run along this line along its entirety between Kilju and Hyesan;
• Express trains 3/4, operating between West P'yŏngyang and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run along this line along its entirety between Kilju and Hyesan;
• Semi-express trains 101/102 operate between Kilju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Hyesan;
• Semi-express trains 104-107/108-111, operating between Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run along the entirety of this line between Kilju and Hyesan;
• Local trains 652/653 operate between Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyon and Taeoch'ŏn.

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