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Korean State Railway
The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 철도성; MR: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk Ch'ŏltosŏng), commonly called the State Rail (Korean: 국철; MR: Kukch'ŏl). Its headquarters are in P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song.
The first railways in the future territory of North Korea were built during the period of Japanese rule by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu), the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) and private companies such as the Chosen Railway (Chōtetsu). At the end of the Pacific War, 2,879.3 km (1,789.1 mi) (2,466.1 km (1,532.4 mi) of standard gauge, and 413.2 km (256.8 mi) of 762 mm (30.0 in) narrow gauge) was Sentetsu owned, and 851.5 km (529.1 mi) (678.4 km (421.5 mi) of standard gauge and 173.1 km (107.6 mi) of narrow gauge) was privately owned. In September 1945 the rolling stock was 678 locomotives (124 steam tank, 446 tender, 99 narrow gauge steam, and 8 electric locomotives), one steam-powered railway crane, 29 powered railcars, 747 passenger cars, and 6,928 freight cars.
The official division of Korea into Soviet and American zones of occupation along the 38th parallel in August 1945 disrupted train service on the (former) Kyŏngwŏn and Kyŏngŭi Lines. However, as early as 26 August, the Soviet army began operating trains on the Kyŏngŭi Line north of Sariwŏn; in the south the US Army Transportation Corps took control of the railways and restarted service on the Kyŏngŭi Line from Tosŏng (north of Kaesŏng) to the south. In May 1946 crossing the 38th parallel without a permit became illegal, and on 9 August 1946 identification cards became necessary for rail travel in the northern part of Korea.
On 10 August 1946 the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea nationalised all railways in the Soviet occupation zone; everything related to railway operations came under the aegis of the People's Committee for Transportation. The railways were nearly paralysed by a lack of experienced staff as a result of the expulsion of ethnic Japanese – most railway workers, especially the skilled labourers, the locomotive crews, mechanics, engineers, and administrators, were Japanese; to make the situation worse, the Soviet Army plundered a great deal of industrial equipment from northern Korea – factory machines, components for hydroelectric dams, and a large number of locomotives and rolling stock. Passengers resorted to riding on the infrequent freight trains, and even on locomotives.
The Korean State Railway (Kukch'ŏl) was created as a department of the Ministry of Transportation in 1948 after the founding of North Korea. Initially, Kukch'ŏl had 3,767 km (2,341 mi) of functional railway, including the restored electrified Yangdŏk–Sinch'ang–Ch'ŏnsŏng section of the P'yŏngwŏn Line, and the newly electrified Kaego–Koin section of the Manp'o Line.
On 10 December 1947, the assets of the Chosen Government Railway were formally divided between North and South, leaving Kukch'ŏl with 617 steam locomotives (141 tank, 476 tender), 8 electric locomotives, and 1,280 passenger cars and 9,154 freight cars (747 and 6,928 respectively according to other sources).
Other new construction took place prior to 1950, but the Korean War which broke out on 25 June 1950 interrupted progress. Initially, the Korean People's Army was dominant, occupying most of the Korean Peninsula apart from a small pocket around Pusan; during this time, many railway vehicles, such as DeRoI-class electric locomotives and steam locomotives built in Japan after the end of the war and delivered to South Korea as reparations, were taken to North Korea. At the same time, war aid in the form of locomotives and freight cars arrived from friendly socialist countries such as the USSR, China, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. American-led United Nations forces quickly turned the tide of the war, however; by 19 October of the same year had captured P'yŏngyang, and a week later, South Korean troops reached the Yalu River. Throughout the Korean War, much of the railway infrastructure and many of the locomotives were destroyed. On 31 December 1950, a train, consisting of the locomotive Matei 10 and 25 cars, going from Hanp'o to Munsan was ordered to stop at Changdan by the US Army, and was destroyed; the track was also destroyed, after which the Kyŏngŭi Line remained severed for over 50 years. UN forces were quickly pushed back south of the 38th parallel, and by the end of the year the war had become a stalemate; little exchange of territory happened over the next two years of fighting until the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27 July 1953.
North Korea was left devastated after the war, with damage being even more extensive than in the south. Factories, houses, bridges, roads, and railways were destroyed in heavy US Air Force bombing raids; Pyongyang's tram system had been completely destroyed, to the extent that salvaging it was deemed uneconomical and was abandoned. Reconstruction, however, started already before the end of the war and, with the aid of the Chinese People's Volunteer Corps, by the time the ceasefire was signed 1,382 km (859 mi) of railway lines had been restored. The north's transportation network was so severely damaged that in many places, the horse was the only viable means of transport; consequently, much of the initial reconstruction efforts were focussed on rebuilding the railways - especially the lines connecting the DPRK to China and Russia, in order to ease the shipment of goods from those two countries. However, some new construction did take place, mostly to complete projects interrupted either by the end of Japanese rule or by the Korean War, such as the Tŏkp'al Line, which had been started by the privately owned West Chosen Central Railway in the early 1940s, to run from Tŏkch'ŏn to P'arwŏn, but of which only 12.3 km (7.6 mi) to Changsangri had been completed by war's end; the project was revived after the Korean War and finished to P'arwŏn in 1954. Within three months of the armistice, 308 bridges with a total length of 15,000 m (49,000 ft) were either repaired or newly built by railway corps volunteers, and 37 stations were rebuilt as the railway network was gradually restored to its pre-war status.
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Korean State Railway
The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 철도성; MR: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk Ch'ŏltosŏng), commonly called the State Rail (Korean: 국철; MR: Kukch'ŏl). Its headquarters are in P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song.
The first railways in the future territory of North Korea were built during the period of Japanese rule by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu), the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) and private companies such as the Chosen Railway (Chōtetsu). At the end of the Pacific War, 2,879.3 km (1,789.1 mi) (2,466.1 km (1,532.4 mi) of standard gauge, and 413.2 km (256.8 mi) of 762 mm (30.0 in) narrow gauge) was Sentetsu owned, and 851.5 km (529.1 mi) (678.4 km (421.5 mi) of standard gauge and 173.1 km (107.6 mi) of narrow gauge) was privately owned. In September 1945 the rolling stock was 678 locomotives (124 steam tank, 446 tender, 99 narrow gauge steam, and 8 electric locomotives), one steam-powered railway crane, 29 powered railcars, 747 passenger cars, and 6,928 freight cars.
The official division of Korea into Soviet and American zones of occupation along the 38th parallel in August 1945 disrupted train service on the (former) Kyŏngwŏn and Kyŏngŭi Lines. However, as early as 26 August, the Soviet army began operating trains on the Kyŏngŭi Line north of Sariwŏn; in the south the US Army Transportation Corps took control of the railways and restarted service on the Kyŏngŭi Line from Tosŏng (north of Kaesŏng) to the south. In May 1946 crossing the 38th parallel without a permit became illegal, and on 9 August 1946 identification cards became necessary for rail travel in the northern part of Korea.
On 10 August 1946 the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea nationalised all railways in the Soviet occupation zone; everything related to railway operations came under the aegis of the People's Committee for Transportation. The railways were nearly paralysed by a lack of experienced staff as a result of the expulsion of ethnic Japanese – most railway workers, especially the skilled labourers, the locomotive crews, mechanics, engineers, and administrators, were Japanese; to make the situation worse, the Soviet Army plundered a great deal of industrial equipment from northern Korea – factory machines, components for hydroelectric dams, and a large number of locomotives and rolling stock. Passengers resorted to riding on the infrequent freight trains, and even on locomotives.
The Korean State Railway (Kukch'ŏl) was created as a department of the Ministry of Transportation in 1948 after the founding of North Korea. Initially, Kukch'ŏl had 3,767 km (2,341 mi) of functional railway, including the restored electrified Yangdŏk–Sinch'ang–Ch'ŏnsŏng section of the P'yŏngwŏn Line, and the newly electrified Kaego–Koin section of the Manp'o Line.
On 10 December 1947, the assets of the Chosen Government Railway were formally divided between North and South, leaving Kukch'ŏl with 617 steam locomotives (141 tank, 476 tender), 8 electric locomotives, and 1,280 passenger cars and 9,154 freight cars (747 and 6,928 respectively according to other sources).
Other new construction took place prior to 1950, but the Korean War which broke out on 25 June 1950 interrupted progress. Initially, the Korean People's Army was dominant, occupying most of the Korean Peninsula apart from a small pocket around Pusan; during this time, many railway vehicles, such as DeRoI-class electric locomotives and steam locomotives built in Japan after the end of the war and delivered to South Korea as reparations, were taken to North Korea. At the same time, war aid in the form of locomotives and freight cars arrived from friendly socialist countries such as the USSR, China, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. American-led United Nations forces quickly turned the tide of the war, however; by 19 October of the same year had captured P'yŏngyang, and a week later, South Korean troops reached the Yalu River. Throughout the Korean War, much of the railway infrastructure and many of the locomotives were destroyed. On 31 December 1950, a train, consisting of the locomotive Matei 10 and 25 cars, going from Hanp'o to Munsan was ordered to stop at Changdan by the US Army, and was destroyed; the track was also destroyed, after which the Kyŏngŭi Line remained severed for over 50 years. UN forces were quickly pushed back south of the 38th parallel, and by the end of the year the war had become a stalemate; little exchange of territory happened over the next two years of fighting until the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27 July 1953.
North Korea was left devastated after the war, with damage being even more extensive than in the south. Factories, houses, bridges, roads, and railways were destroyed in heavy US Air Force bombing raids; Pyongyang's tram system had been completely destroyed, to the extent that salvaging it was deemed uneconomical and was abandoned. Reconstruction, however, started already before the end of the war and, with the aid of the Chinese People's Volunteer Corps, by the time the ceasefire was signed 1,382 km (859 mi) of railway lines had been restored. The north's transportation network was so severely damaged that in many places, the horse was the only viable means of transport; consequently, much of the initial reconstruction efforts were focussed on rebuilding the railways - especially the lines connecting the DPRK to China and Russia, in order to ease the shipment of goods from those two countries. However, some new construction did take place, mostly to complete projects interrupted either by the end of Japanese rule or by the Korean War, such as the Tŏkp'al Line, which had been started by the privately owned West Chosen Central Railway in the early 1940s, to run from Tŏkch'ŏn to P'arwŏn, but of which only 12.3 km (7.6 mi) to Changsangri had been completed by war's end; the project was revived after the Korean War and finished to P'arwŏn in 1954. Within three months of the armistice, 308 bridges with a total length of 15,000 m (49,000 ft) were either repaired or newly built by railway corps volunteers, and 37 stations were rebuilt as the railway network was gradually restored to its pre-war status.