The Ongjin Line is a partially 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 ...

South Hwanghae Province South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital i ...

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 ...

, running from

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th century ...

on the

Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line The Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the Korean State Railway in the North and South Hwanghae provinces of North Korea, running from Sariwŏn to Haeju.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama ...

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

History

Established in 1923 through the merger of six smaller railways, by the mid 1930s the Chosen Railway (''Chōtetsu'') had become the largest privately owned railway in colonial Korea, and had built an extensive network of narrow gauge rail lines in the Hwanghae region. By the end of 1935 this Hwanghae Line network ran

Sariwŏn Sariwŏn () is the capital of North Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Population The city's population as of 2008 is 307,764. Administrative divisions Sariwŏn is divided into 31 ''tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 9 '' ri'' (villages): Healthcare ...

—Samgang— Sugyo, Samgang—East Haeju— Haeju Port,朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 1492, 26 December 1931 and Haeju—East Haeju— Tosŏng. The beginnings of what would eventually become the Ongjin Line were laid in 1931, when the line from East Haeju to Haeju Port at Ryongdangp'o was opened on 12 November of that year, and on 1 July 1933, when Haeju Station was opened following the completion of the line west from East Haeju. On 11 May 1934, Sŏbyŏn Station was opened on that segment, which was later renamed Tongp'o. Construction of the Ongjin Line proper began from Haeju Station, with the first section to Ch'wiya (nowadays called Pyŏksŏng) opened on 11 December 1936. In May 1937, two new stretches were opened: a short () section from Tongp'o to Chŏngdo on the 10th, and from Ch'wiya to Ongjin on the 19th.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 3106, 26 May 1937 Chōtetsu sold the Hwanghae Line network to the

Chosen Government 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), ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel ...

on 1 April 1944, which absorbed and then split the network into separate lines, with the Haeju—Ongjin line becoming known as the Ongjin Line, and the Tongp'o—Chŏngdo line becoming the Chŏngdo Line; the East Haeju—Tongp'o—Haeju Port section was made part of the Samgang—East Haeju Sahae Line.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 5143, 29 March 1944 Following the end of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the subsequent

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 ...

left the Ongjin Line divided between the Soviet and American zones of occupation, with the 38th parallel splitting the line near Chayang Station. After the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

the entire line was within the DPRK. After the conversion of the Sariwŏn—Haeju

to standard gauge in 1958,North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Hwanghae Chongnyon Line (in Korean)
/ref> the Ongjin and Chŏngdo Lines were likewise regauged, during which the East Haeju—Haeju— West Haeju line running through the middle of the city was closed. A new passenger station for Haeju, Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn Station was opened immediately adjacent to the East Haeju freight yards, along with a new line from Wangsin (formerly Tongp'o) to West Haeju. Electrification of the East Haeju—Wangsin—West Haeju section of the line was completed by April 1982.

Services

Commuter trains run on the line from West Haeju to Hakhyŏn on the Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line via Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Changbang.

Route

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

References

{{coord missing, North Korea Railway lines in North Korea Standard gauge railways in North Korea