Native name 평덕선(平德線) Opened Stages between 1911-? Line length 192.3 km (119.5 mi) Depot Pyongyang Station No of tracks Single-track railway | Status Operational Operator(s) Korean State Railway Owner Korean State Railway No. of tracks Single-track railway Stations 37 | |
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Type Heavy rail, Regional rail Terminis Kujang Chongnyon Station, Taedonggang Station Locale Pyongyang, North Hwanghae Province, South Pyongan, North Pyongan | ||
The P'yŏngdŏk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway running from Taedonggang Station in P'yŏngyang, where it connects to the P'yŏngbu Line, to Kujang on the Manp'o and Ch'ŏngnyŏn P'alwŏn lines. The total length of the line is 192.3 km (119.5 mi). It is currently under the jurisdiction of the P'yŏngyang Railway Bureau (Taedonggang–Hyangwŏn section), and of the Kaech'ŏn Railway Bureau (Tuillyŏng–Kujang section). Economically, it is a very important line, connecting P'yŏngyang with the coal mining and industrial centres of Pukch'ang, Tŏkch'ŏn and South P'yŏngan province.
Contents
- History
- Pyngyang Colliery Line
- West Chosen Central Railway
- Freight
- Passenger
- Route
- Myngdang Branch
- Kobi Branch
- Tksan Branch
- Taeri Branch
- Ryngdae Branch
- Chaedong Branch
- Solgol Branch
- Kwanha Branch
- Sksan Branch
- Mynghak Branch
- Ingpo Branch
- Tngnam Branch
- Hyngbong Branch
- Sinsng Branch
- Hoedun Branch
- Schang Branch
- Changsang Branch
- References
The P'yŏngdŏk Line is also connected to the east-west P'yŏngra Line. It has numerous branchlines, including those to Ryŏngdae, Myŏnghak, Sŏch'ang and Changsang. Many of these branchlines are to coal mines that send coal to the Pukch'ang Thermal Power Complex, and to other industrial centres and power plants.
There are 38 stations on the line, not including Taedonggang (which 'belongs' to the P'yŏngbu Line), Sinsŏngch'ŏn (P'yŏngra Line) and Kujang Ch'ŏngnyŏn (Manp'o Line). Of these, 33 are regular intermediate stations. There is also a freight station at Mirim, one halt, and three signal stations. Passing through mountainous territory, the P'yŏngdŏk Line thus features many bridges and tunnels. Through the Myŏhyang mountains around Tuillyŏng the ruling grade is 20‰ and the minimum radius of curves is 250 m (820 ft), while on the Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Tŏkch'ŏn section the ruling grade is 17‰ with a minimum curve radius of 300 m (980 ft). There are 90 bridges with a total length of 3,916 m (12,848 ft), and 52 tunnels with a total length of 10,345 m (33,940 ft) - 5.4% of the line's length is through tunnels.
On 21 October 2014 a groundbreaking ceremony for the Sŭngri ("Victory") project to modernise the P'yŏngnam Line from Namp'o to P'yŏngyang and the P'yŏngdŏk Line from P'yŏngyang to Chedong was held. The project, supported by Russia, is intended to form the first stage of a larger-scale cooperation with the Russian Railways as part of a 20-year development project that would modernise around 3,500 km (2,200 mi) of the North Korean rail network, and would include the construction of a north-south freight bypass around P'yŏngyang. The overall project cost is estimated to be around US $25 billion, and it is expected that exports of coal, rare earth and non-ferrous metals from the DPRK to Russia will provide the funding for the project.
History
The P'yŏngdŏk Line was formed after the establishment of the DPRK and the Korean State Railway by merging parts of two previous lines, the P'yŏngyang Colliery Line, a branch line of the Chosen Government Railway's (Sentetsu) K'yŏngŭi Line, and the mainline of the privately owned West Chosen Central Railway.
P'yŏngyang Colliery Line
The P'yŏngyang Colliery Line (평양탄광선, P'yŏngyang T'an'gwang-sŏn; 平壤炭鑛線, Heijō tankō-sen) was opened by Sentetsu in two parts to exploit the rich anthracite deposits of the area. The first section, 10.1 kilometres (6.3 mi) from P'yŏngyang to Sadong, was opened on 1 September 1911. Seven years later, on 5 May 1918 a 15.8 km (9.8 mi) extension from Sadong to Sŭngho-ri was opened. The stations at Taedonggang and Sadong were opened in 1911, while the stations at Mirim and Sŭngho-ri were opened in 1918, and the station at Sŏn'gyo-ri on 15 October 1920. Sentetsu then opened the station at Ch'ŏngryong and the branch line to Myŏngdang on 1 November 1925, followed by the station at Ripsŏng-ri and the branch to Kobi on 1 November 1934.
West Chosen Central Railway
The privately owned West Chosen Central Railway (서선중앙철도, Sŏsŏn Chung'ang Ch'ŏldo; 西鮮中央鐵道, Sōsen Chūō Tetsudō) opened its mainline from Sŭngho-ri to Chang'an (now Namdŏk) in several staged between 1939 and 1945. The first section, 29.6 km (18.4 mi) from Sŭngho-ri to Sŏngrŭm, was opened on 29 June 1939, followed five months later by an 8.5 km (5.3 mi) extension to P'yŏngnam Kangdong (now just Kangdong).
On 1 October 1941 the West Chosen Central Railway opened a second line, isolated from the first, made up of a 36.1 km (22.4 mi) mainline running from Sinsŏngch'ŏn to Pukch'ang and a 4.4 km (2.7 mi) branchline from Kujŏng to Chaedong. The two sections of mainline remained isolated from each other until 18 September 1942, when the gap between P'yŏngnam Kangdong and Sinsŏngch'ŏn, a distance of 30.3 km (18.8 mi) was closed. The newly built line did not long remain part of the West Chosen railway, as on 1 April 1944 the line from Sŭngho-ri all the way to Sinsŏngch'ŏn was transferred to Sentetsu and incorporated into the P'yŏngyang Colliery Line.
The West Chosen Central Railway nevertheless continued expanding its truncated mainline. The first of these extensions was a 5.9 km (3.7 mi) stretch from Pukch'ang to Okch'ŏn opened on 28 December 1944, which was followed by a second extension, 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) to Chang'an, opened on 15 May 1945.
After the end of the Pacific War and subsequent partition of Korea, both the West Chosen Central Railway and the parts of Sentetsu within the newly established DPRK were nationalised, becoming part of the Korean State Railway. The section from Taedonggang to Mirim was subsequently realigned after the end of the Korean War, during which the line was heavily damaged. The new alignment was about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) longer than the old section. Later, the line was extended from Namdŏk (previously Chang'an) first to Tŏkch'ŏn and then to Kujang. Electrification of the line was completed in June 1979.
Freight
On the P'yŏngdŏk Line, freight traffic is vastly greater in the southbound direction than northbound - 3.5-8 times greater on the Taedonggang–Sinsŏngch'ŏn section and 6-15.3 times greater on the Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Tŏkch'ŏn–Kujang section. The bulk of the southbound freight traffic is anthracite from the coal fields of North and South P'yŏngan provinces, accounting for anywhere from 55.4% to 99.2% of southbound freight. However, it also accounts for 35.4% of northbound freight on the Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Pukch'ang section, as some of the anthracite extracted at the Ryŏngdae, Chaedong and Solgol mines are shipped to the Pukch'ang Thermal Power Complex - the largest in the DPRK - for fuel.
Cement, ore, stone, fertiliser, wood and metals make up the largest part of northbound cargo. Between Taedonggang and Sinsŏngch'ŏn it is mostly cement, ore, grain, fertilisers and metals, whilst on the Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Tŏkch'ŏn–Kujang section it is primarily wood, cement and fertiliser.
Cement is shipped from the Sŭngho-ri Cement Factory at Sŭngho-ri. Steel and metals from the Ch'ŏllima Steel Complex on the P'yŏngnam Line and from the Hwanghae Iron & Steel Complex at Changch'ŏl-li on the Songrim Line are shipped via the P'yŏngdŏk Line to various factories along the line, including the Sŭngri Motor Plant at Tŏkch'ŏn.
The freight-only station at Mirim is responsible for handling freight for the Taedonggang-guyŏk, Taesong-guyŏk and Sadong-guyŏk districts of P'yŏngyang. The main commodities arriving there are anthracite from Namdŏk, Hŭngryŏng and elsewhere, and cement from Sŭngho-ri.
The freight yard at Kangdong station handles freight for Kangdong and Hoech'ang counties, and for P'yŏngyang's Samsŏk-kuyŏk district. The main commodities arriving there are fertiliser, steel and cement. Cement arrives from the Sŭngho-ri Cement Factory, from the 2.8 Cement Complex at Pongsan on the P'yŏngbu Line, and from Taegŏn on the P'yŏngra Line. Steel is from the Hwanghae Iron & Steel Works on the Songrim Line, while fertiliser comes from the Namhŭng Youth Chemical Complex at Namhŭng on the P'yŏngŭi Line, from Hŭngnam and Chisu on the P'yŏngra Line, and from Namp'o. The main commodities shipped from Kangdong are chrysotile asbestos and thread.
The main commodities arriving at Sŏngch'ŏn freight yard are anthracite and fertiliser. Anthracite is shipped here from Sŏch'ang, Namdŏk, Chaedong and Ryŏngdae; fertiliser comes from Hŭngnam and Namhŭng. The main shipments from Sŏngch'ŏn are non-ferrous metal ores, sand, tobacco, metal and logs. The ores and logs are shipped to Munch'ŏn and Haeju, while the sand and tobacco is shipped to P'yŏngyang.
Sŭngho-ri and Pukch'ŏn are important stations on the P'yŏngdŏk Line. Arriving freight at Sŭngho-ri is mostly destined for the Sŭngho-ri Cement Factory, including coal from Hŭngryong, marble from P'yŏngsan on the P'yŏngbu Line and gypsum from Sujin on the Tŏkhyŏn Line. Although most of the cement produced there is sent to P'yŏngyang, a portion is sent to places along the P'yŏngdŏk Line such as Kangdong, Sŏngch'ŏn, Pukch'ang and Tŏkch'ŏn. At Pukch'ŏn the main customer is the massive Pukch'ŏn Thermal Power Complex, receiving tens of thousands of tons coal daily from Okch'ŏn, Ryongsan and Sŏksan on the Soksan Branch, Myŏnghak, Solgol, Chenam, Hoe'an, Sŏch'ang, Hyangwŏn, Changsang and Tŏngnam. In addition, Pukch'ang has a large aluminium plant, a soybean-processing plant and a machinery factory.
Passenger
The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line:
Route
A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.
Myŏngdang Branch
Electrified.
Kobi Branch
Electrified.
Tŏksan Branch
Closed.
Taeri Branch
Closed.
Ryŏngdae Branch
Electrified.
Chaedong Branch
Electrified. This branch was opened on 1 October 1941 together with the opening of the section Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Pukch'ang.
Solgol Branch
Electrified.
Kwanha Branch
Not electrified.
Sŏksan Branch
Electrified.
Myŏnghak Branch
Electrified.
Ingp'o Branch
Electrified.
Tŏngnam Branch
Electrified.
Hyŏngbong Branch
Electrified.
Sinsŏng Branch
Electrified.
Hoedun Branch
Electrified.
Sŏch'ang Branch
Electrified.
Changsang Branch
Electrified.