The Gyeongwon Line was a railway line of the Chosen Government Railway in central Korea. It was the first east–west trunk line to be opened, connecting the capital Gyeongseong to the important east coast port of Wonsan. Following the partition of Korea, the line was divided between North and South Korea.

History One of the earliest construction plans of the Railway Bureau of the Government General of Korea was for an east−west trunk line to connect Keijō to the important port of Wonsan. The first section of this planned line was the segment from Yongsan to Uijeongbu, which was opened by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) on 15 October 1911. Construction westbound from Wonsan began in 1912, and segments of the line were opened at various stages over the subsequent five years, until the final section, from Sepo to Gosan, was opened on 16 August 1914, completing the line from Gyeongseong to Wonsan.

The line was built in the following segments:

Date Section Length 15 October 1911 Yongsan–Uijeongbu 21 July 1912 Uijeongbu–Yeoncheon 21 October 1912 Yeoncheon–Cheorwon 10 July 1913 Cheorwon–Pokkye 21 August 1913 Yongjiwon–Wonsan 25 September 1913 Pokkye–Geombullang 21 October 1913 Gosan–Ryongjiwon 21 June 1914 Geombullang–Sepo 16 August 1914 Sepo–Kosan

The first railway electrification projects to be undertaken in Korea were implemented along the Gyeongwon Line. The first of these was the privately owned Geumgangsan Electric Railway, which was first opened in 1924 from Cheorwon to Gimhwa, and by 1931 had been extended all the way to Naegeumgang.金剛山電気鉄道について (in Japanese)

Also in the 1930s, Sentetsu, together with the South Manchuria Railway, was developing plans to create an electrified railway all the way from Busan to Xinjing, capital of Manchukuo. The first stage of this plan was the electrification of the Gyeongwon, Gyeonggyeong and Gyeongin lines, and in March 1940, the Imperial Diet budgeted 3.6 million Yen for electrification equipment for this plan. Electrification of the Pokkye−Gosan section of the Gyeongwon Line began in December 1940; it was completed and commissioned on 27 March 1944, and commercial electric operations commenced on 1 April 1944.

After the partition of Korea following the end of the Pacific War in 1945, the Gyeongwon Line was split along the 38th parallel between the stations of Hantangang and Choseongni.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), The railways in both South and North were nationalised, and the newly established Korean National Railroad took over operation of the truncated Gyeongwon Line, from Seoul to Choseongni; in the North, the Korean State Railway merged its section of the Gyeongwon Line, Choseongni−Wonsan, with the Wonsan−Gowon section of the former Hamgyeong Line to create the Gangwon Line.

The line was severely damaged during the Korean War. After the ceasefire and the subsequent establishment of the Military Demarcation Line, the division of the line changed, with the South gaining control of the line further northwards as far as Woljeongni. However, in the South the line was rebuilt only as far as Sintalli, resulting in an operation line from Yongsan and Sintalli with a length of .

For the post-war histories of the Northern and Southern sections of the line, see Kangwon Line for the Northern section, and Gyeongwon Line for the Southern section.

Route

+ Stations as of 1945 Distance Station name Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Opening dateOriginal owner Connections 0.0 0.0 Yongsan Ryūzan 용산 龍山 15 October 1911 Sentetsu Gyeongbu LineSentetsu Yongsan Line 3.6 3.6 Seobinggo Seihyōko 서빙고 西氷庫 1 October 1917 7.7 4.1 Sucheolli Suitetsuri 수천리 水鐵里 15 October 1911 Closed 1944 10.4 2.7 Wangsimni Ōjūri 왕십리 往十里 15 October 1911 12.6 2.2 Cheongnyangni Seiryūri 청량리 淸凉里 15 October 1911 Sentetsu Gyeonggyeong Line 18.2 5.6 Yeonchon Genson 연촌 硯村 25 July 1939 Gyeongchun Railway Gyeongchun Line 21.8 3.6 Changdong Sōdō 창동 倉洞 15 October 1911 31.3 9.5 Uijeongbu Giseifu 의정부 議政府 15 October 1911 43.5 12.2 Deokjeong Tokutei 덕정 德亭 15 October 1911 53.3 9.8 Dongducheon Tōtōsen 동두천 東豆川 25 July 1912 65.4 12.1 Jeongok Zenkoku 전곡 全谷 25 July 1912 74.0 8.6 Yeoncheon Rensen 연천 漣川 25 July 1912 84.5 10.5 Daegwangni Daikōri 대광리 大光里 21 October 1912 88.8 4.3 Sintalli Shintanri 신탄리 新炭里 10 July 1913 98.1 9.3 Cheorwon Tetsugen 철원 鉄原 21 October 1912 Geumgangsan Electric Railway 103.1 5.0 Woljeongni Gesseiri 월정리 月井里 10 July 1913 113.1 10.0 Gagok Kaikoku 가곡 佳谷 10 July 1913 119.9 6.8 Pyeonggang Heikō 평강 平康 10 July 1913 123.7 3.8 Bokgye Fukukei 복계 福溪 10 July 1913 134.6 10.9 I'mok Rimoku 이목 梨木 25 September 1913 139.4 4.8 Geombullang Kenfutsurō 검불랑 劍拂浪 25 September 1913 144.4 5.0 Seongsan Jōsan 성산 城山 21 June 1914 151.6 7.2 Sepo Senho 세포 洗浦 21 June 1914 159.3 7.7 Sambanghyeop Sanbōgyō 삼방협 三防峽 16 August 1914 163.2 3.9 Sambang Sanbō 삼방 三防 16 August 1914 177.6 14.4 Gosan Kōzan 고산 高山 21 October 1913 184.1 6.5 Yeongjiwon Ryōchien 용지원 龍池院 21 August 1913 192.2 8.1 Seokwansa Shakuōji 석왕사 釋王寺 21 August 1913 201.6 9.4 Namsan Nansan 남산 南山 21 August 1913 208.0 6.4 Anbyeon Anhen 안변 安邊 21 August 1913 Sentetsu Donghae Bukbu Line 212.9 4.9 Baehwa Haika 배화 培花 21 August 1913 219.6 6.7 Galma Katsuba 갈마 葛麻 21 August 1913 223.7 4.1 Wonsan Genzan 원산 元山 21 August 1913 Sentetsu Hamgyeong Line

References

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), Kawaguchi Printing Company, Tokyo, pp 495–496