The Gyeongchun Line is a

regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

line between

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, operated by

Korail The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...

. Its name is derived from Gyeong (, meaning the capital, Seoul) and ''Chuncheon''. It was completely reconstructed in the 2000s. Service on it has operated between

Sangbong station Sangbong station is a station on Seoul Subway Line 7, the Gyeongchun Line and the Gyeongui–Jungang Line. It is located in Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul. References External links Station informationfrom Korail The Korea Railro ...

on the Jungang Line in eastern Seoul and Chuncheon station, as part of the

Seoul Metropolitan Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway () is a urban rail transit, metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, Medium-capacity rail transport system, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. T ...

system, since December 21, 2010. A class of regional rail service named

ITX-Cheongchun Intercity Train eXpress-Cheongchun (ITX-Cheongchun; ) is a class of train operated by Korail, the national railroad of South Korea, introduced on February 28, 2012. ''ITX-Cheongchun'' is the successor of the Gyeongchun Line Mugunghwa-ho which op ...

began operations on February 28, 2012, linking Chuncheon to

Cheongnyangni Cheongnyangni-dong () is a '' dong'' (neighborhood) of Dongdaemun District, Seoul, South Korea. At this dong, there are many convenient buildings like many kinds of financial companies and banks, a branch of Lotte Department Store, and Cheongny ...

and

Yongsan Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Yongsan is located near Downtown Seoul, ...

Stations.

History

The original Gyeongchun Line was opened along its full length of between

Kwangwoon University Kwangwoon University (KWU; ) is a comprehensive and private research university in Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea, offering undergraduate and graduate programs. Chosun Radio Training Center, the predecessor of Kwangwoon University, was the first ...

on the

Gyeongwon Line The Gyeongwon Line is a railway line serving northeastern Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. The line is operated by Korail. The name of the line came from ''Gyeongseong'' (Seoul) and ''Wonsan'', the original terminus of the line, in what is ...

to Chuncheon by the privately owned Gyeongchun Railway on 20 July 1939. Chuncheon was the most popular destination for students on orientation trips, bringing passengers to the line. Following the

Liberation of Korea Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, all railways, including the Gyeongchun Railway, were nationalised.

Upgrade

The line was upgraded into an electrified and double-tracked line for . Between Geumgok and Chuncheon, from 1997 until 2010, the line was re-laid in a straighter, 64.2 km long alignment with a budget of 2.151,931 billion won. The remaining 17.9 km of the upgraded line was built with a separate budget of 574.124 billion won. Towards Seoul, after Toegyewon station, this section of the new line diverges from the old alignment that ended in Seongbuk, and connects to the Jungang Line at

Mangu station Mangu station is a station on the Gyeongui–Jungang Line, and the Gyeongchun Line since 21 December 2010. The station was Seoul's main distribution center of charcoal briquettes in the 1950s and 1960s, extracted and manufactured in southern Ga ...

. The new alignment was originally planned to be opened in 2004, but completion of the works was delayed for various reasons, including lack of funds. The complete new alignment opened and the old one closed on December 21, 2010. Re-alignment of Gyeongchun Line

On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Gyeongchun Line is to be further upgraded for 230 km/h and may see KTX service. For the longer term, the government also considers to build a parallel high-speed line that would continue beyond Chuncheon to

Sokcho Sokcho (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city and major tourist hub located in the northeast of Gangwon Province, South Korea. History From around the 3rd century to the early 5th century AD, Sokcho was part of Eastern Ye, Do ...

on South Korea's east coast. On November 4, 2016, two trains (one in the morning, one in the night) were added to the line. These trains run to and from

Kwangwoon University station Kwangwoon University station (formerly Seongbuk station) is a train station on Seoul Subway Line 1, Gyeongchun Line and Gyeongwon Line in Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It ...

, allowing for transfers to Line 1. These trains take the Mangu Line Branch. On September 26, 2016, the service was extended to Cheongnyangni station to improve access to regional trains (KTX, Seoul Metro Line 1) at the station. However, only 10 trains in each direction travel past Sangbong Station; the majority of the trains still terminate at Sangbong Station, and the two special rush-hour trains still run to and from Kwangwoon University Station.

Services

Seoul Metropolitan Subway Gyeongchun Line

When the new Gyeongchun Line was opened on December 21, 2010, passenger service was integrated into the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system as a name of ''Seoul Metropolitan Subway Gyeongchun Line (수도권 전철 경춘선)''. It brings that the system from Seoul all the way into Gangwon Province. The new service reduced travel time between Chuncheon and Sangbong in Seoul from two hours to 89 minutes, with different trains operating according to different stopping patterns; and increased capacity five-fold. Compared to the previous

Mugunghwa-ho The Mugunghwa-ho () is a class of train operated by Korail, the main railway operator of South Korea. Mugunghwa trains are Korail's slowest tier of trains stopping at a number of towns and villages, and operating over a number of lines that are ...

train service on the Gyeongchun Line, fares were reduced by half. For the service,

Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem Company, often referred to as Hyundai Rotem (), is a South Korean manufacturer of railway rolling stock, railway signalling, defense products and plant equipment. It is a member of Hyundai Motor Group and has presence in more than ...

supplied Korail with fifteen eight-car Class 361000

EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

trains, out of which only fourteen trains remain in service on the line today. Currently, Seoul Metropolitan Subway Gyeongchun Line serves mainly Sangbong station to Chuncheon station. Rare service to Cheongnyangni or Kwangwoon University station is also available, making it a Y-shaped line.

ITX-Cheongchun service

On February 28, 2012, Korail introduced the

service (Intercity Train EXpress), which uses Class 368000 trains with double-deck cars. From Chuncheon Station, the fastest ITX trains take 52 minutes to Cheongnyangni station, and 68 minutes to Yongsan station in Seoul, operating at a maximum speed of . The base fare is 9,800 won between Chuncheon and Yongsan, but Korail offers 15% discount at all time resulting price of 8,300 won. Basic discount rate was 30% until July 31, 2016, 25% until July 31, 2018, 15% since August 1, 2018.

Mugunghwa service

Some special Mugunghwa trains which deploy military troops takes the Gyeongchun Line.

Service Route

Current Services

Main Line

The following stations are along the Gyeongui-Jungang Line and the Gyeongchun Line itself. The negative sign is only a convention for distance notation from Sangbong Station, the terminus of most services.

Mangu Line Branch (very limited service)

Former alignment

References

External links

Korail
{{South Korea rapid transit Railway lines in South Korea Railway lines opened in 1939 Transport in Seoul Transport in Gyeonggi Province Transport in Gangwon Province, South Korea Seoul Metropolitan Subway lines