Kangdŏk Line
Overview
Native name	장연선(長淵線)
Status	Operational
Owner	Chosen Government Railway (1941–1945) Korean State Railway (since 1945)
Locale	Ch'ŏngjin-si, North Hamgyŏng
Termini	Namgangdŏk Susŏng
Stations	4
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger & freight rail Regional rail
History
Opened	1 December 1941
Technical
Line length	15.2 km (9.4 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC Overhead line
Route map Ch'ŏngjinhang Line P'yŏngra Line Hambuk Line Kangdŏk Line Ch'ŏngjin East Harbour Kŭmbawi Ch'ŏngjinhang Panjuk Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn 15.2 Susŏng Ch'ŏngjin Railway Equipment Factory Ch'ŏngjin Steel Works 7.3 Kŭndong Engine depot 5.5 Ch'ŏngjin Choch'ajang Sunam Ch'ŏngjin Shipyard Ch'umok-tong Ch'ŏngjin Chemical Fibre Complex aluminium works; Sea of Japan Ch'ŏngjin West Harbour Songp'yŏng Ch'ŏngjin Thermal Power Station Sea of Japan 1.3 0.0 Kangdŏk 0.0 Namgangdŏk Kim Chaek Iron & Steel

The Kangdŏk Line is an electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the North Korean State Railway running from Namgangdŏk on the P'yŏngra Line to Susŏng on the Hambuk Line.^[1]

Ch'ŏngjin Choch'ajang, Ch'ŏngjin's large marshalling yard, is located on this line.^[1]

History

The first rail line to reach Susŏng was the Ch'ŏngjin−Ch'angp'yŏng section of the Hamgyŏng Line, opened by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) on 5 November 1916. On 31 July 1917, the management of Sentetsu was transferred from the Railway Bureau of the Government-General of Korea to the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu). Under Mantetsu management, construction of the Hamgyŏng Line was accelerated, and to handle increasing freight traffic on the line, a large marshalling yard, called Ch'ŏngjin Choch'ajang, was built near Ch'ŏngjin.^[1] To access this, a new 14.9 km (9.3 mi) line between Ranam and Susŏng was opened on 10 December 1919; Kangdŏk Station, located 7.2 km (4.5 mi) from Ranam, was opened on 1 August 1922.

On 1 December 1941, a new line was opened between Ranam and Ch'ŏngjin to allow trains to bypass the Ch'ŏngjin marshalling yard. The existing line, running via Kangdŏk and the marshalling yard, was detached from the Hamgyeong Line and designated the Kangdŏk Line; at the same time, a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) connection from Ch'ŏngjin Sŏhang Station (Ch'ŏngjin West Port, today called Songp'yŏng) to Kangdŏk was built, to allow southbound trains to access the marshalling yard without having to reverse at Ranam.^[2]

Services

Two passenger trains are known to operate on this line:^[1]

• Local trains 601/604, operating between Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Kŭndong, run on this line between Namgangdŏk and Kŭndong;
• Local trains 608/608'609, operating between Kŭndong and Songp'yŏng, run on this line between Kŭndong and Namgangdŏk.

Route

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

References