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Paech'ŏn Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Tohae Line
Native name	배천선(白川線)
Status	Operational
Owner	Chosen Railway (1931–1944) Chosen Government Railway (1944–1945) Korean National Railroad (1945–1950) Korean State Railway (since 1953)
Locale	South Hwanghae
Termini	Changbang Ŭnbit
Stations	11
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/Freight Regional rail
History
Opened	Stages between 1931-1971
Technical
Line length	64.4 km (40.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
Electrification	3000 V DC Overhead line (Changbang - Ch'ŏngdan)
Route map Legend -1.1 Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line Ongjin Line 0.0 East Haeju 7.8 Changbang Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line Ŭpch'ŏn (bridge appx 110 m (360 ft)) (bridge appx 25 m (82 ft)) 11.5 Kalsan 16.4 Naesŏng Closed Taegwandanch'ŏn (bridge appx 70 m (230 ft)) Tŏktal Line 20.5 Ch'ŏngdan Hwayangch'ŏn (bridge appx 175 m (574 ft)) 4.3 Hwayang Closed (tunnel appx 180 m (590 ft)) 24.1 Simgye Closed 12.7 Tŏktal (former mine) Closed (bridge appx 35 m (115 ft)) 28.7 Ch'ŏnt'ae 33.7 P'ungch'ŏn P'ungch'ŏn (bridge appx 70 m (230 ft)) old alignment 39.4 Ohyŏn 45.1 Yŏn'an Yŏnbaek Canal (bridge appx 35 m (115 ft)) Rajinp'och'ŏn (bridge appx 90 m (300 ft)) 50.6 Onjŏng 54.8 Mugu Closed 58.2 Honghyŏn Han'gyoch'ŏn (bridge appx 85 m (279 ft)) 62.5 Paech'ŏn (former wye) 64.4 Ŭnbit 67.5 Sŏngho Closed 67.7 Ŭnbit freight station Ryesŏng River (bridge appx 625 m (2,051 ft)) 72.8 Ryesŏnggang Closed (tunnel appx 100 m (330 ft)) (bridge appx 625 m (2,051 ft)) P'yŏngbu Line 79.7 Kaep'ung P'yŏngbu Line

The Paech'ŏn Line is a partially electrified standard-gauge secondary railway line of the Korean State Railway in South Hwanghae Province, North Korea, running from Changbang on the Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line to Ŭnbit.

History

By the end of 1930, the Chosen Railway (abbreviated Chōtetsu), the largest privately owned railway in colonial Korea, had extended its Hwanghae Line network to run from Sariwŏn to Sugyo in the west and to Haeju in the south, completing the latter line in December of that year. Chōtetsu then began building eastwards from Haeju to create a southern connection to the Kyŏngŭi Line, the state-owned Chosen Government Railway's (abbreviated Sentetsu) mainline from Kyŏngsŏng to Sinŭiju and Andong, Manchuria, opening the first section of a new 762 mm (30.0 in) narrow-gauge line, from East Haeju to Yŏn'an, on 21 December 1931. The second section was opened on 1 September 1932, running from Yŏn'an across the Ryesong River to connect to the Kyŏngŭi Line at Tosŏng (later renamed Kaep'ung). A 2.3 km (1.4 mi) extension west from East Haeju to Haeju was opened on 1 July 1933.

Chōtetsu sold the Hwanghae Line network to Sentetsu on 1 April 1944, which absorbed the split the network into separate lines, with the Haeju—Tosŏng line becoming known as the Tohae Line.

Following the end of the Pacific War and the subsequent partition of Korea, most of the Tohae Line was located in the US zone of occupation that later became South Korea, with the line being divided along the 38th Parallel between Changbang and Kalsan, and the Korean National Railroad operated passenger trains on the line between Tosŏng and Ch'ŏngdan until 1950. The line was heavily damaged during the Korean War, and the destruction of the Ryesong River bridge left the line truncated at Paech'ŏn. The truncated line ended up in North Korea after the Korean Armistice, becoming part of the Korean State Railway which gave the line its current name of Paech'ŏn Line. The Korean State Railway completed the conversion of the Haeju—Paech'ŏn line to standard gauge in 1971, at the same time adding an extension from Paech'ŏn to the current terminus, Ŭnbit.

Electrification of the section from Changbang to Ch'ŏngdan was completed by April 1982.

Route

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

Tŏktal Line

Opened in 1931 by Chōtetsu. Not electrified; closed.

References

1. Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6
2. 朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 1187, 16 December 1930
3. 朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 1492, 26 December 1931
4. Japanese Government Railways (1937), 鉄道停車場一覧. 昭和12年10月1日現在(The List of the Stations as of 1 October 1937), pp. 509~510
5. 朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 5143, 29 March 1944
6. ^ "100 Years of Rail Travel - The 38th Parallel (in Japanese)". Archived from the original on 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
7. ^ North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Paech'ŏn Line (in Korean)
8. North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line (in Korean)

v t e Paech'ŏn Line
Mainline	East Haeju Changbang Kalsan Naesŏng Ch'ŏngdan Simgye Ch'ŏnt'ae P'ungch'ŏn Ohyŏn Yŏn'an Onjŏng Mugu Honghyŏn Paech'ŏn Ŭnbit Sŏngho Ryesŏnggang Kaep'ung
Tŏktal Line	Ch'ŏngdan Hwayang Tŏktal

• Railway lines in North Korea
• Standard gauge railways in North Korea