The Kaech'ŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the
Korean State Railway
The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song.
History
1945–195 ...
running from
Sinanju
Sinanju is the name of a region (신안주) in Anju city, South Pyongan Province, North Korea. The name literally means "Comfortable New Village." When Anju County was raised to the status of a city in August 1987, Sinanju Workers' District was ...
on the
P'yŏngŭi Line
The P'yŏngŭi Line is an electrified main trunk line of the Korean State Railway of North Korea, running from P'yŏngyang to Sinŭiju on the border with China.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), It is the main co ...
to
Kaech'ŏn on the
Manp'o Line
The Manp'o Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway running from Sunch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line to Manp'o on the Pukpu Line. The line continues on from Manp'o to Ji'an, China.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍� ...
.
The ruling grade on the line is 14‰, the minimum curve radius is ; there are 14 bridges with a total length of , and there are four tunnels with a total length of .
[North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Kaech'ŏn Line (in Korean)](_blank)
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History
The line was originally opened on 13 May 1916 by the Mitsui Mining Railway as a narrow-gauge line running from Sinanju to Kaech'ŏn. It was subsequently extended from Kaech'ŏn to Ch'ŏndong, with the new section being opened on 1 December 1918. In 1927, the company was renamed Kaech'ŏn Light Railway, and then was leased to the Chosen Government Railway (''Sentetsu'') on 1 November 1932. Sentetsu began converting the Kaech'ŏn–Ch'ŏndong section to standard gauge, completing this work on 15 July 1933,[朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 1947, 7 July 1933 (in Japanese)] and on 1 September 1933 the entirety of the line was officially absorbed into Sentetsu, with the Kaech'ŏn–Ch'ŏndong section becoming part of the Manp'o Line
The Manp'o Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway running from Sunch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line to Manp'o on the Pukpu Line. The line continues on from Manp'o to Ji'an, China.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍� ...
. After the partition of Korea
The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be l ...
the line was located in North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...
and became part of the Korean State Railway, which converted the remaining narrow-gauge section (Sinanju–Kaech'ŏn) to standard gauge in 1949;[Choe, Un-sik, 한국의 전통 사회 운송 기구, , pp. 115] and semi-automatic train control was installed on the entirety of the line at the same time.
Services
Anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
and cement are the primary commodities shipped on the line.
Route
A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaechon Line
Railway lines in North Korea
Standard gauge railways in North Korea