The Gyeonggang Line (경강선) is a rail line in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, which at present comprises two distinct sections. The first one, which opened on September 24, 2016, is part of the

Seoul Metropolitan Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. The system serves most of the Seoul Metropolitan Area including ...

system in

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

, and runs from the city of

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential cit ...

Yeoju City Yeoju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Yeoju was a county but was raised to the status of a city in September 2013. Together with the neighboring city of Icheon, it is known as a major center of contemporary South Korean ceramics, ...

, partially coinciding with the route of the former narrow-gauge

Suryeo Line The Suryeo Line (水驪線, ''Suirei-sen'') is a former narrow-gauge railway line owned by Korean National Railroad. The line connected Suwon to Yeoju. History The first section of the line was opened by the privately owned Chosen Gyeongdong ...

. The second section, which is located entirely in Gangwon Province, runs between

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

and

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of Gangw ...

and opened on December 22, 2017, in anticipation of the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. This section of the line offers

KTX Korea Train eXpress (), often known as KTX (), is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004. From Seoul Station the ...

service from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, through the Jungang Line. In the future, the two sections are to be connected, and the Gyeonggang Line will be extended westwards to

Siheung Siheung ( ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The city has a population of 511,807 people, where 508,646 are residents out of 218,846 households as of August 2021. Siheung acquired its curren ...

History

September 24, 2016: The first section of the line opens from Pangyo to

Yeoju Yeoju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Yeoju was a county but was raised to the status of a city in September 2013. Together with the neighboring city of Icheon, it is known as a major center of contemporary South Korean ceramics, ...

.
December 22, 2017: The second section of the line opens from

Seowonju station Seowonju station, is a railway station in Jijeong-myeon, Wonju, South Korea. It is served by the Gangneung Line and Jungang Line. The station belongs to Jungang Line opened on 25 September 2012. The Gangneung Line opened on December 22, 2017, ah ...

to Gangneung station.

Future

The Gyeonggang Line is planned to run all the way from

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

. The line is planned to be extended west of Pangyo to

Wolgot Wolgot is a '' dong'', neighbourhood of Siheung in Gyeonggi Province southwest of Seoul and south of Incheon, bordering on Soraepogu. There is also a fishing harbor on the local ocean inlet, near which numerous high-rise apartment buildings are loc ...

on the existing

Suin Line The Suin Line (Suwon-Incheon) was a metro line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway serving the Seoul Capital Area. The original route, abandoned in 1995, was one of the few narrow-gauge railways in South Korea. Opened by the privately owned Chosen ...

, and east of Yeoju to Seowonju.

Rolling stock

Korail Class 371000 The Korail Class 371000 trains are commuter electric multiple units in South Korea used on the Gyeonggang Line. Technical details Electrical parts All trains use IGBT controls and use passive cooling with a heat pipe. The trains are also eq ...

(12 trains)

Stations

Pangyo-Yeoju

This section opened in September 2016. Initially, the line utilizes Class 371000 cars.

Wolgot-Pangyo

This section is expected to start construction soon but will open no earlier than 2025.

Seowonju-Gangneung

This section opened on December 22, 2017, just before the

. It is different line, so it is called the Gangneung Line. The line offers

KTX-Eum The KTX-Eum (, formerly known as EMU-260) or Korail Class 150000 is a South Korean High-speed rail, high-speed electrical multiple unit, electric multiple unit train manufactured by Hyundai Rotem and operated by Korail. The word 'eum' in Korean ...

services. This line is designated as semi-high-speed line.

Yeoju-Seowonju

There are currently no planned stations for this section.

References

* * {{Korea rapid transit Seoul Metropolitan Subway lines