The Hoeam Line is a non-electrified 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 Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History ...

in Kyŏnghŭng County, North Hamgyŏng province,

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 T ...

, running from Haksong on the

Hambuk Line The Hambuk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Ch'ŏngjin) on the P'yŏngra Line to Rajin, likewise on the P'yŏngra line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama n ...

to Obong.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 93

History

After the Chosen Synthetic Oil Company opened a large factory in Aoji-ri (now Haksong-ri) in 1937Aoji-ri Chemical Complex
/ref> to produce synthetic oil from the bituminous coal mined in the area,북한 아오지 탄광과 석유화학공업(1편)
/ref> the Chosen Coal Industry Company built a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line, called the ''Ao Line'', to connect its mines to the chemical factory and to the

South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway ( ja, 南満州鉄道, translit=Minamimanshū Tetsudō; ), officially , Mantetsu ( ja, 満鉄, translit=Mantetsu) or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operatio ...

's North Chosen East Line, opening the first section from Aoji to Hoeam for passenger and freight service on 9 September 1938.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3505, 20 September 1938 (in Japanese) The line was then extended, with a new section from Hoeam to Sinaoji (now called Ŭndŏk) and Obong opened on 14 September 1942.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4695, 14 September 1942 (in Japanese) Following the partition of Korea, the entirety of the Ao Line was located in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

zone of occupation. The

Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea The People's Committee of North Korea (Chosŏn'gŭl: 북조선인민위원회) was a provisional government governing the Northern portion of the Korean Peninsula from 1947 until 1948. Established on 21 February 1947 as the successor of the ...

nationalised all railways in the northern half of the country on 10 August 1946, and following the establishment of North Korea, the

was created.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 131, After the town of Aoji was renamed to Haksong, the line was given its current name.

Route

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeam Line Railway lines in North Korea Standard gauge railways in North Korea