The Kŭmgol Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the

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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

State Railway State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

running from Yŏhaejin on the

P'yŏngra Line The P'yŏngra Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from P'yŏngyang to Rason, where it connects with the Hambuk Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), I ...

Muhak Muhak (무학, 1327–1405) was a Korean Buddhist monk that lived during the transition between the Goryeo and the Joseon kingdoms. Life Muhak was a Buddhist monk and an advisor to Yi Seong-gye who became King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dyn ...

.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), 2007, Shinchosha, Tokyo, Located entirely in

Tanch'ŏn Tanch'ŏn () is a port city in northeastern South Hamgyŏng province, North Korea. It has a population of approximately 360,000. Tanch'ŏn borders the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), into which the Namdae River flows. Administrative divisio ...

city, South Hamgyŏng - one of the DPRK's most important mining areas - freight trains moving ore from the mines on the line to the P'yŏngra Line form the bulk of the line's traffic. The line is in relatively severe terrain, with a ruling grade of 26‰. There are 45 bridges with a total length of , and 30 tunnels with a total of .The traffic and geography in North Korea
Kŭmgol Line
(in Korean)

History

Originally called the Hamnam Line, it was built by the privately-owned

Chosen Magnesite Development Railway Chosen or The Chosen may refer to: The chosen ones *Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including ** Jews as the chosen people Books * ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel), a 1967 novel by Chaim ...

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Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 朝鮮マグネサイト開発鉄道 ''Chōsen Magunesaito Kaihatsu Tetsudō'',

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 조선 마그네사이트 개발 철도, ''Chosŏn Magŭnesaitŭ Kaebal Ch'ŏldo''), to exploit the

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula (magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ro ...

deposits of the Kŏmdŏk district; the company was granted a licence to operate passenger trains on 25 March 1943.朝鮮総督部官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor–General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4854, 9 April 1943 (in Japanese) The first section, 27.7 km from Yŏhaejin on the P'yŏngra Line to Tongam, was opened on 30 March 1943, followed by a 32 km extension from Tongam to Ryongyang (nowadays called Paekkŭmsan) that was opened on 4 December of the same year.朝鮮総督府官報(The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 5059, 13 December 1943 (in Japanese) 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 li ...

following the end of World War 2 and the subsequent establishment of the DPRK, the line was nationalised and its name was changed to the current name. In 1961-62 the line, which by that time was outdated in technical terms, was upgraded with modern equipment; at the same time, a extension from Paekkŭmsan to Kŭmgol was built. The entire line was then electrified in 1977, improving the total capacity, safety and train speeds on the line. The final extension from Kŭmgol to

was built after 1988.

Services

Freight

Freight movements make up by far the largest amount of traffic on the Kŭmgol Line, with the bulk of that traffic moving from Kŭmgol to the connection with the P'yŏngra Line at Yŏhaejin - the vast majority of that traffic being magnesite ore from Paekkŭmsan and non-ferrous ores from the Kŏmdŏk Mining Complex. Northbound traffic is mainly coal, construction materials, foodstuffs and empty cars for ore-loading.

Passenger

The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line: * Express trains 11/12, operating between P'yŏngyang and Kŭmgol, runs on this line between Yŏhaejin and Kŭmgol; * Local trains 513/516 operate on this line between Kŭmgol and

; * Local trains 913/914 operate on this line between Tonsan and Paekkŭmsan.

Route

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumgol Line Railway lines in North Korea Standard gauge railways in North Korea Railway lines opened in 1943 1943 establishments in Korea