The Sinhŭng Line is an electrified

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway 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 ...

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

, running from

Hamhŭng Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's second-largest city, and the capital of South Hamgyŏng Province. It has an estimated population of 768,551. Located in the southern part of the South Hamgyong province, Hamhung is the main and most p ...

( Hamhŭng-si) to Pujŏnhoban ( Pujŏn-gun) on Lake Pujŏn via Sinhŭng ( Sinhŭng-gun).Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), Between Hamhŭng and Sinhŭng, a distance of , the line is standard gauge, but the remaining from Sinhŭng to the terminus at Pujŏnhoban is

; the narrow gauge section is also electrified. Though primarily an industrial railway connecting to the Pujŏn River hydroelectric power plant, it also plays an important role in passenger transportation in the region. There is a section between Songhŭng and Pujŏllyŏng that is cable-hauled.

History

During the Japanese colonial era, the privately owned Sinhŭng Railway built a network of narrow-gauge lines north of Hamhŭng. These were the Hamnam Line (not to be confused with the line of the same name of the

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 ...

, nowadays called Kŭmgol Line), to assist in the construction of the Pujŏn River hydroelectric power plant and to exploit forestry and other resources in the area. When complete, the Hamnam Line ran from Hamhŭng to Hamnam Sinhŭng (nowadays called simply Sinhŭng) via Oro (nowadays Yŏnggwang), with a branch from Oro to Sang'tong. Later, the Sinhŭng Railway opened the Songhŭng Line from Sinhŭng to Pujŏnhoban. The Sinhŭng Railway was bought by the

Chosen Railway The Chosen Railway Company (Japanese: 朝鮮鉄道株式会社, ''Chōsen Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha''; Korean: 조선철도주식회사, ''Joseon Cheoldo Jusikhoesa''), was a privately owned railway company in Japanese-occupied Korea. History The ...

on 22 April 1938.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3385, 3 May 1938 Between 1934 and 1936, the Sinhŭng Railway opened a line south from Hamhŭng, the Namhŭng Line. After the establishment of the DPRK and the nationalisation of its railways, the Hamnam Line was split up, with the Hamhŭng - Oro - Sinhŭng section becoming the Sinhŭng Line, and the Oro - Sangt'ong section becoming part of the

Changjin Line The Changjin Line is an electrified narrow gauge line of the North Korean State Railway running from Yŏnggwang on the Sinhŭng Line to Sasu on Lake Changjin.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), There is a cable-haul ...

. At the same time, the Songhŭng Line was merged into the Sinhŭng Line, extending it to its current length. Originally built entirely as a narrow gauge line, frequent accidents on the line led the Korean State Railway to convert the Hamhŭng—Sinhŭng to standard gauge for greater safety and increased transportation capacity. After the regauging of this section, West Hamhŭng station was disconnected from the Hamhŭng—Sinhŭng, leaving Hamhŭng as the only direct junction point with the Sŏho Line. Electrification of the line to Pujŏnhoban was completed in 1992.

Services

Freight

The primary outbound freight shipped on the Sinhŭng Line is wood; potatoes and metals are also shipped out. Goods arriving onto the line from elsewhere include coal (

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

bituminous Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

), fertiliser, aquatic products, grains and cement.

Passenger

Though primarily an industrial railway connecting to the Pujŏn River hydroelectric power plant, it also plays an important role in passenger transportation in the region. A pair of local passenger trains, 880/881, operate on the standard gauge section of this line between

and Sinhŭng; there are also passenger trains on the narrow-gauge section north of Sinhŭng.

Route

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

; an orange background indicates that section is non-electrified narrow gauge.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinhung Line Railway lines in North Korea Standard gauge railways in North Korea 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in North Korea