Hwanghae Line (黄海線, Kōkai-sen) was the name given by the privately owned Chōsen Railway of colonial Korea to its network of railway lines in Hwanghae Province.Tōa Travel Co. (東亜旅行社), Ministry of Railways Combined Timetable 1 November 1942 (鐵道省編纂時刻表昭和17年11月1日) The name encompassed the mainline from Sariwon to Haeju, along with several connecting branch lines.

History The first section of what would become the Hwanghae Line was a narrow-gauge line from Sanghae (later Samgang) to Naeto via Hwasan opened by the Mitsubishi Ironworks on 20 May 1919 for use as a private industrial railway.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō Nr. 2054, 16 June 1919 Shortly thereafter, the West Chōsen Development Railway was set up to take over this line, which it did on 21 April of the following year.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō Nr. 2317, 4 May 1920

Immediately after that, the West Chōsen Development Railway began work on another narrow gauge line, a line from Sariwon to Jaeryeong via Sanghae, opening it on 21 December 1920,朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō Nr. 2514, 27 December 1920 and on 16 November of the following year it was extended from Jaeryeong to Sincheon, a distance of .朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō Nr. 2514, 19 November 1921

On 1 April 1923, the West Chōsen Development Railway merged with five other railway companies to form the Chōsen Railway (abbreviated Chōtetsu, to distinguish it from the Chōsen Government Railway, which was known as Sentetsu),Establishment of the Chosen Railway, Dong-A Ilbo, 3 September 1923 (in Korean) taking over all lines and operations of its predecessors. Chōtetsu then grouped the Sanghae—Naeto line together with the Sariwon—Sanghae—Sincheon line it had inherited from the West Chōsen Development Railway, collectively calling them the Hwanghae Line.

Chōtetsu subsequently expanded the Hwanghae Line network significantly, with the first expansion being the addition to extend the line from Hwasan to Miryeok, opening the new track on 1 September 1924.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō Nr. 3620, 5 September 1924 A year to the day later Chōtetsu opened the Miryeok—Sinwon—Haseong line.

The network remained unchanged over the following four years, but after that there came a flurry of expansions. First, the Sariwon–Sincheon line was extended from Sincheon to Sugyo on 1 November 1929, followed on 12 November 1929 by the extension Sinwon—Hakhyeon section, and on 11 December 1930 by the Hakhyeon—East Haeju section.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 1187, 16 December 1930 Less than a year later, Chōtetsu extended the line again, this time with a segment from East Haeju to Haeju Port station in Ryongdangp'o.

Chōtetsu then began expanding its network around Haeju. First, a line from East Haeju to Haeju Port at Ryongdangp'o was opened on 12 November 1931,朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 1492, 26 December 1931 after which construction began eastwards from Haeju to create a southern connection to the Gyeongui Line, the state-owned Chōsen Government Railway's main line from Keijō to Sinuiju and on to Andong, Manchukuo. The first section of this new narrow gauge line, from East Haeju to Yeon'an, was opened on 21 December 1931.

The second section involved much more intensive work, as a bridge had to be built across the Ryesong River. Thirty-five girders were supplied by Japanese locomotive manufacturer Kisha Seizō, and the line was finally opened on 1 September 1932, running from Yeon'an across the new bridge to connect to the Gyeongui Line at Toseong (later renamed Gaepung). A extension west from East Haeju to Haeju was opened on 1 July 1933.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 Chōtetsu then added three new stations, opening Seobyeon Station (later renamed Dongpo), south of East Haeju, on 11 May 1934朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 2195, 8 May 1934 (now called Wangsin), and Sindeok Station between Sinwon and Haseong, from Sinwon, on 11 August 1935.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 2581, 19 August 1935

Expansion then headed west from Haeju, with a stretch of new line from Haeju to Chwiya that was opened on 11 December 1936. The northwestern area was not left ignored, as just over a month later, a extension from Sugyo to Jangyeon was opened on 21 January 1937.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Showa Nr. 3009, 28 January 1937 Finally, on 10 May 1937 a branch was opened from Dongpo to Jeongdo,朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 3096, 14 May 1937 followed by a extension from Chwiya to Ongjin nine days later.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 3106, 26 May 1937

+ Hwanghae Line Construction Timeline Date Section Length Original Builder 20 May 1919 Sanghae–Naeto Mitsubishi Ironworks 21 December 1920 Sariwon–Jaeryeong West Chōsen Development Railway 16 November 1921 Jaeryeong–Sincheon West Chōsen Development Railway 1 September 1924 Hwasan–Miryeok Chōsen Railway 1 September 1925 Miryeok–Haseong Chōsen Railway 1 November 1929 Sincheon–Sugyo Chōsen Railway 12 November 1929 Sinwon–Hakhyeon Chōsen Railway 11 December 1930 Hakhyeon–East Haeju Chōsen Railway 12 November 1931 East Haeju–Haeju Port Chōsen Railway 21 December 1931 East Haeju–Yeon'an Chōsen Railway Cheongdan–Deokdal Chōsen Railway 1 September 1932 Yeon'an–Toseong Chōsen Railway 1 July 1933 Haeju–East Haeju Chōsen Railway 11 December 1936 Haeju–Chwiya Chōsen Railway 21 January 1937 Sugyo–Jangyeon Chōsen Railway 10 May 1937 Dongpo–Jeongdo Chōsen Railway 19 May 1937 Chwiya–Ongjin Chōsen Railway

Chōtetsu sold the Hwanghae Line network to Sentetsu on 1 April 1944, which absorbed the Hwanghae Line network and split it up, giving each section a new name:朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 5143, 29 March 1944 Cheongdan–Deokdal () → Deokdal Line Sinwon–Haseong () → Haseong Line Samgang–Jangyeon () → Jangyeon Line Dongpo–Jeongdo () → Jeongdo Line Hwasan–Naeto () → Naeto Line Haeju–Ongjin () → Ongjin Line Sariwon—Hwasan—Sinwŏn—Haeju () → Sahae Line East Haeju–Toseong () → Tohae Line

Deciding that traffic levels merited the construction of a standard gauge line, Sentetsu built a new, line from Sariwon to Haseong, calling it the Hwanghae Main Line. The opening of a new station in Haseong led to the existing station on the narrow gauge line from Sinwon to be renamed "Guhaseong Station" ("Old Haseong Station").朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 5286, 15 September 1944

After the end of the Pacific War and the subsequent partition of Korea, most of the former Hwanghae Line network was located in North Korea and was taken over by the Korean State Railway.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), However, 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 Jangbang and Galsan, and the Korean National Railroad operated passenger trains on the line between Tosŏng and Ch'ŏngdan until 1950. After the end of the Korean War, the entirety of the former Hwanghae Line network was within North Korea.

Services

In the November 1942 timetable, the last issued prior to the start of the Pacific War, Chōtetsu operated an extensive schedule of third-class-only local passenger services:

+ Sariwon ~ Jangyeon Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen - - - Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen - - - 0.0 - 06:45 11:50 18:35 Sariwon 81.8 2.90 09:45 15:54 20:52 81.8 2.90 10:07 15:27 21:47 Jangyeon 0.0 - 06:10 12:25 17:35

+ Sariwon ~ Haeju Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen - - - - Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen - - - - 0.0 - 08:30 12:00 15:05 18:25 Sariwon 73.3 2.60 09:28 12:49 16:09 19:35 73.3 2.60 11:14 15:00 18:00 21:10 Haeju 0.0 - 06:50 10:05 13:25 16:50

+ Toseong ~ Haeju Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen - - - - - Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen - - - - - - 0.0 - 08:40 11:43 13:45 16:15 19:35 Toseong 81.5 2.90 09:06 11:09 14:10 17:00 19:16 20:56 81.5 2.90 11:31 14:57 17:00 19:12 22:25 Haeju 0.0 - 06:20 08:25 11:20 14:05 16:25 18:00

+ East Haeju ~ Ongjin Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen - - - - - Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen - - - - - 0.0 - 08:15 11:45 15:20 17:20 19:35 East Haeju 42.6 1.55 07:40 08:15 10:21 13:15 20:05 42.6 1.55 09:48 13:18 16:53 18:54 21:35 Ongjin 0.0 - 06:00 06:30 07:50 11:30 18:20

+ East Haeju ~ Haeju Port/Jeongdo Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen 71 73 505 75 - 77 509 79 81 Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen 72 74 508 76 - 78 512 80 82 0.0 - 06:50 08:40 09:30 11:40 13:00 15:15 16:55 17:30 21:10 East Haeju 7.46.8 0.25 07:46 09:49 11:00 12:36 15:05 16:01 18:30 18:46 22:06 6.1 0.25 07:07 08:53 09:51 11:53 13:21 15:28 17:16 17:43 21:23 Dongpo 1.30.7 0.25 07:34 09:34 10:40 12:24 14:10 15:49 18:10 18:34 21:54 7.4 0.25 07:10 08:56 11:56 ... 15:31 17:46 21:26 Haeju Port 0.0 - 07:30 09:30 12:20 ... 15:45 18:30 21:50 6.8 0.25 ... ... 09:55 ... ... ... 17:20 ... ... Jeongdo 0.0 - ... ... 10:30 ... ... ... 18:00 ... ...

+ Hwasan ~ Naeto Distance(read down) PriceKorean yen - - - Station name Distance(read up) PriceKorean yen - - - 0.0 - 08:40 13:00 18:45 Hwasan 2.1 0.15 09:18 13:28 19:18 2.1 0.15 08:53 13:08 18:53 Naeto 0.0 - 09:10 13:20 19:10

Routes + Main line Sariwon–Haeju Port (to Sentetsu Sahae Line) Distance Station name Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections 0.0 0.0 Sariwon Shariin 사리원 沙里院 Sentetsu Gyeongui Line 1.5 1.5 SeosariwonWest Sariwon Nishi-Shariin 서사리원 西沙里院 3.6 2.1 Migok Bikoku 미곡 嵋谷 8.1 4.5 Seojong Seishō 서종 西鐘 11.9 3.8 SanghaeSamgang (from 1940) JōkaiSankō 상해삼강 上海三江 Jangyeon Line 17.9 6.0 Gwangtan Kōtan 광탄 広灘 22.7 4.8 Seoktan Sekitan 석탄 石灘 24.8 2.1 Hwasan Kazan 화산 花山 Naeto Line 28.1 3.3 Jangsusan Chōjuzan 장수산 長寿山 32.8 4.7 Miryeok Miryoku 미력 未力 42.5 9.7 Sinwon Shin'in 신원 新院 Haseong Line 49.4 6.9 Yeomtan Entan 염탄 塩灘 57.7 8.3 Sinjumak Shinshubaku 신주막 新酒幕 64.5 6.8 Hakhyeon Kakken 학현 鶴峴 70.9 6.4 DonghaejuEast Haeju Higashi-Kaishū 동해주 東海州 Tohae Line 74.0 3.1 Cheongyang Seiyō 청양 青陽 opened 1937 77.0 3.0 Dongpo Tōho 동포 東浦 Jeongdo Line 78.4 1.4 Haejuhang Kaishūkō 해주항 海洲港

+ Samgang–Jangyeon (to Sentetsu Jangyeon Line) Distance Station name Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections 0.0 0.0 SanghaeSamgang (from 1940) JōkaiSankō 상해삼강 上海三江 Sahae Line 4.1 4.1 Geumsan Kinzan 금산 金山 9.6 5.5 Jaeryeong Sainei 재령 載寧 13.1 3.5 Baekseok Hakuseki 백석 白石 17.1 4.0 Changchon Sōson 창촌 倉村 20.5 3.4 Sincheon Oncheon Shinsen Onsen 신천온천 信川温泉 23.2 2.7 Sincheon Shinsen 신천 信川 29.4 6.2 Yongmun Ryūmon 용문 竜門 34.3 4.9 Munhwa Bunka 문화 文化 39.8 5.5 Samcheon Oncheon Sansen Onsen 삼천온천 三泉温泉 43.3 3.5 Gungheung Kyūkyō 궁흥 弓興 46.5 3.2 Yangchon Yason 야촌 野村 52.2 5.7 Sugyo Suikyō 수교 水橋 56.9 4.7 Songhwa Oncheon Shōka Onsen 송화온천 松禾温泉 62.5 5.6 Naksan Rakuzan 낙산 楽山 65.9 3.4 Nakdo Rakudō 낙도 楽道 69.9 4.0 Jangyeon Chōen 장연 長淵

+ Hwasan–Naeto (to Sentetsu Naeto Line) Distance Station name Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections 0.0 0.0 Hwasan Kazan 화산 花山 Sahae Line 2.1 2.1 Naeto Naito 내토 內土

+ Sinwon–Haseong (to Sentetsu Haseong Line) Distance Station name Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections 0.0 0.0 Sinwon Shin'in 신원 新院 Sahae Line 3.5 3.5 Sindeok Shintoku 신덕 新德 5.5 2.0 Haseong Kasei 하성 下聖