The North China Transportation Company (華北交通株式会社, Japanese: ''Kahoku Kōtsū kabushiki gaisha'', Chinese: ''Huáběi Jiāotōng Zhūshì Huìshè'') was a transportation company in the territory of the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

Provisional Government of the Republic of China during the Japanese occupation.

History

After

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

occupied a large part of northern China during the Sino-Japanese War, it set up a

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sover ...

known as the Provisional Government of the Republic of China. In 1938, the Provisional Government nationalised the various railway and bus companies in its jurisdiction, after which 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 ...

set up a subsidiary, called the North China Transportation Company, to operate the railways and bus services within the Provisional Government's territory. With its headquarters in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, the NCTC at its peak employed 110,000 people, of which 70% were Chinese. The company was liquidated in 1945 following Japan's defeat in 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 vas ...

, and the railways were taken over by the

China Railway China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout C ...

. Amongst the railway companies that were nationalised were: * Beining Railway - previously known as the Peking−Mukden Railway; Beijing− Shanhaiguan section only; the Shanhaiguan−

Fengtian Fengtian (; postal: Fengtien; Manchu: ''Abkai imiyangga fu'') is: * Shenyang, largest city and provincial capital of Liaoning province, which was formerly administered under Fengtian Fu, which was abolished in 1910 * Liaoning, the province formerl ...

section was taken over by the

Manchukuo National Railway The Manchukuo National Railway (Traditional Chinese and Japanese kanji: , Japanese romanization: ''Manshū Kokuyū Tetsudō'') was the state-owned national railway company of Manchukuo. Generally called the "國線" ("National Line", ''Kokusen ...

in 1933; *

Jiaoji Railway Jiaoji (? – ?) was an ancient Chinese figure and the son of Shaohao. History According to the ''Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of the Five Emperors'' by Sima Qian, Jiaoji was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and a son of Shaohao. Neit ...

; * Jinghan Railway; * Jingsui Railway - Beijing− Guisui (Hohhot), now part of the Beijing–Baotou Railway; * Longhai Railway; * Tongpu Railway - originally narrow gauge, but soon converted to standard gauge; * Zhengtai Railway - originally narrow gauge, later converted to standard gauge, becoming the Shitai Line.

Routes

* Boshan Line (博山線) Zhangdian- Boshan (張店～博山) **Hongshan Line (黌山線) Zichuan-

Hongshan Hongshan may refer to: Places in China Districts *Hongshan District, Chifeng () in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia *Hongshan District, Wuhan () in Wuhan, Hubei Subdistricts * Hongshan Subdistrict, Changsha (), in Kaifu District, Changsha, Hunan * Hong ...

(淄川～黌山) * Jiaoji Trunk Line (膠済幹線)

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

(青島～済南) * Jingbao Trunk Line (京包幹線) Beijing-

Baotou Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is ...

(北京～包頭) * Jinggu Trunk Line (京古幹線)

- Gubeikou(北京～古北口) * Jinghan Trunk Line (京漢幹線) Beijing-

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

(北京～漢口) * Jingshan Line (京山線) Beijing- Shanhaiguan (北京～山海関) * Jinpu Trunk Line (津浦幹線)

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

(天津～徐州) * Longhai Trunk Line (隴海幹線) Lianyun-

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

(連雲～開封) * Shimen Trunk Line (石門幹線) Shimen- Dexian (石門～徳縣) * Shitai Trunk Line (石太幹線) Shimen-

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

(石門～太原) * Tongpu Trunk Line (同蒲幹線)

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 ce ...

- (大同～蒲州)

Rolling stock

Locomotives of the North China Transportation Company used the same classification system used by the

between 1938 and 1945.

Locomotives

Standard gauge

Narrow gauge

Services

The North China Transportation Company ran a number of long-distance trains, both within China and in conjunction with the

and the Chosen Government Railway. Notable trains include the "Tairiku" ("Continental") and "Kōa"

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...

trains between Beijing and

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

. The "Tairiku" entered service in 1938, making the trip from Busan to Beijing in 37.5 hours in 1940; the train was discontinued in 1944. The observation car used on this train is preserved at the

Beijing Railway Museum The China Railway Museum () is a Chinese museum preserving locomotives that have operated on the railways of the People's Republic of China. The museum offers a total exhibition space of 16500m² and 8 exhibition tracks. The museum is located ...

. The "Kōa" was put into operation in 1939, making the same trip in 39.5 hours in 1940, but by 1945 the trip took 49 hours. The "Kōa" was discontinued after the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War.

References

External links

North China Transportation Company Photo Archive
{{nctclocos Defunct railway companies of Japan Standard gauge railways in China Defunct railway companies of China