Hambuk Line

Hambuk Line
Overview
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	North Hamgyŏng Rasŏn
Termini	Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn Rajin
Stations	51
Operation
Opened	Stages between 1916-1935
Owner	Korean State Railway
Operator(s)	Korean State Railway
Technical
Line length	325.1 km (202.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track (Susŏng - Komusan) Double track (Hongŭi-Rajin) Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge partly with 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) (Dual Gauge, Hongŭi-Rajin)
Electrification	3000 V DC Overhead lines
Route map Legend Ch'ŏngjin Port Line, P'yŏngra Line 0.0 Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn Ch'ŏngam P'yŏngra Line Kangdŏk Line 7.8 Susŏng ↑Ch'ŏngjin/Puryŏng↓ 13.4 Sŏngmak 21.2 Changhŭng Hyŏngje 35.8 Puryŏng 42.1 Komusan Musan Line Sŏkpong 54.5 Ch'angp'yŏng ↑Puryŏng/Hoeryŏng↓ 61.8 Chŏn'gŏ-ri 67.9 P'ungsan Ch'angdu 79.5 Chungdo 85.5 Taedŏk 92.6 Hoeryŏng Ch'ŏngnyŏn Hoeryŏng Colliery Line 93.5 Sinhoeryŏng 96.3 Kŭmsaeng 102.0 Koryŏngjin   0.0 Sinhakp'o Sech'ŏn Branch 8.6 Sech'ŏn 110.3 Hakp'o 14.4 Chungbong 119.7 Sinjŏn 126.1 Kanp'yŏng ↑Hoeryŏng/Onsŏng↓ 133.0 Sambong Chaokai Line 136.2 Hasambong Closed 1933 142.1 0.0 Chongsŏng Tongp'o Branch 147.3 Soam Closed 1944 15.6 Tongp'o Sŏngp'yŏng Branch 150.3 0.0 Kangal-li (Tonggwan) 11.5 Sŏngp'yŏng 156.2 Sugup'o 162.9 Kangyang For Tumen, China 169.0 Namyang 172.9 P'ungri 179.0 Seseon 183.5 Onsŏng 189.0 P'ung'in 198.6 Hwangp'a Old East Manchuria Railway 208.2 Hunyung ↑Onsŏng/Kyŏngwŏn↓ 213.6 Hamyŏn 217.9 Saebyŏl 225.2 Nongpo 229.0 Ryongdong-ri 237.4 Singŏn Kogŏnwŏn Line ↑Kyŏngwŏn/Kyŏnghŭng↓ 248.0 Sinasan 255.0 0.0 Songhak Ch'undu Branch Ch'undu Hoeam Line 261.2 Haksong ↑Kyŏnghŭng/Rason↓ 269.9 Ch'ŏnghak 279.6 Sahoe 285.6 Hongŭi Hongŭi Line Mulgol 292.7 Kuryongp'yŏng 300.7 Ungsang 308.1 Tongsŏnbong Closed 313.0 0.0 Sŏnbong Sŭngri Branch 4.2 Sŭngri Paekhwa 319.2 Kwan'gok 3.0 Namrajin Closed Namrajin Branch Closed 328.2 0.0 Rajin P'yŏngra Line

The Hambuk Line near Kanpyong

The Hambuk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the North Korean State Railway running from the former Panjuk Station (just north of Ch'ŏngjin) on the P'yŏngra Line to Rajin, likewise on the P'yŏngra line.^[1]

The Hambuk line connects to the Hongŭi Line at Hongŭi, which is North Korea's only rail connection to Russia. There is also a connection at Namyang to the Chinese railway network via the bridge over the Tumen River between Namyang and Tumen, China.

Although located entirely inside North Hamgyŏng Province, this line is one of the DPRK's main trunk railways. The line's total length is 325.1 km (202.0 mi); in terms of length, it is the second-longest rail line in the country after the P'yŏngra Line, accounting for 7.7% of the national total of railway lines.^[2]

Over ten rail lines - secondary mainlines and branchlines - connect to the Hambuk Line, including the Musan Line, the Hoeryŏng Colliery Line, the Kogŏnwŏn Line, the Hoeam Line, and the Hongŭi Line, along with numerous branchlines. The Hambuk Line connects three cities and four counties - Ch'ŏngjin City, Puryŏng County, Hoeryŏng City, Onsŏng County, Kyŏngwŏn County, Kyŏnghŭng County, and the Rason Special City.

In terms of regional characteristics, the Hambuk Line passes through two largely distinct areas. It runs inland in mountainous terrain between Panjuk to Hoeryŏng, then along the Tumen River and the northern border of the country all the way to Rajin. The steepest part of the line is between Puryŏng and Ch'angp'yŏng, where the ruling gradient is over 20‰. Conversely, the route on the Tumen River's bank along the national border is comparatively flat.

There is double track from Susŏng, where the line connects to the Kangdŏk line, to Komusan, where the Musan line begins; the dual-gauge section (standard and Russian gauges) from Hongŭi to Rajin is also double-tracked.

There are service facilities for locomotives in Hoeryŏng and Sambong and for rolling stock in Namyang.^[2]

History

The Hambuk Line was created by the combination of a number of lines that were originally built by several different railway companies.^[1]

The Ch'ŏngjin-Hoeryŏng section was originally part of the Hamgyŏng Line of the Chosen Government Railway; this section was completed in three stages: Ch'ŏngjin-Ch'angp'yŏng (55.7 km) was completed on 5 November 1916, the Ch'angp'yŏng-P'ungsan section (13.4 km) on 16 September 1917, and the P'ungsan-Hoeryŏng section (24.7 km) on 25 November 1917.^[3]

The Hoeryŏng-Tonggwanjin (now called Kangal-li) line was built by the privately owned Tomun Railway Company, and was opened in three stages: the Hoeryŏng-Sangsambong (now called Sambong) section (40.4 km) was completed on 5 January 1920, the Sangsambong-Chongsŏn section (9.1 km) on 1 December 1922, and the Chongsŏn-Tonggwanjin section (8.2 km) on 1 November 1924. This line was nationalised on 1 April 1929, becoming the West Tomun Line of the Chosen Government Railway.^[4]

In order to create the shortest possible route from Japan to eastern Manchuria, the Chosen Government Railway began construction of a line from Unggi (now Sŏnbong) to Tonggwanjin; the first section, from Unggi to Sinasan, was completed on 16 November 1929. The line was subsequently extended towards Tonggwanjin in several stages: Sinasan to Hunyung was completed on 1 October 1930, from Hunyung to Unsŏng on 20 October 1931, from Unsŏng to P'ungri on 1 November 1932,^[5] from P'ungri to Namyang on 1 December 1932, and the final gap from Namyang to Tonggwanjin was finished on 1 August 1933, completing the Tomun Line from Hoeryŏng to Unggi, and at the same time, Tonggwanjin Station was renamed to Tonggwan Station.^[6]

In 1933, the Manchuria National Railway completed its line from Xinjing (now Changchun), the capital of Manchukuo, to the Tumen River opposite Namyang, connecting it to the West Tomun Line and completing the connection from Unggi on the East Sea to Xinjing.

In October 1934, management of the entire line from Ch'ŏngjin to Unggi was transferred to the South Manchuria Railway; at that time, the Hoeryŏng-Sangsambong section was added to the existing (Wŏnsan-Ch'ŏngjin) Hamgyŏng Line, the Sambong-Namyang section was renamed the North Chosen Western Line (Puksŏn-sŏbusŏn, 북선서부선), and the Namyang-Unggi section was renamed North Chosen East Line (Puksŏn-tongbusŏn, 북선동부선).^[7]

In 1935, the port at Rajin was opened as an alternative to Unggi; at the same time, on 1 November 1935 the South Manchuria Railway opened the Ungri Line to connect Unggi to Rajin. An express train named "Asahi" from Xinjing, Manchukuo to Rajin was put into service in 1936 to connect to the ferry to Japan.^[7]

In 1940, the Ch'ŏngjin-Sangsambong line was transferred back to the Chosen Government Railway, and was made part of the Hamgyŏng Line running from Wŏnsan to Sangsambong. An express train from Seoul to Mudanjiang via this line was inaugurated at this time.

Service on the line was suspended after the Soviet invasion at the end of the Second World War. The damage sustained by the line during the war was slow to be repaired due to strained relations between the Soviets and the Korean People's Committees. However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Soviets built a branchline from Baranovsky on the Vladivostok branch of the Soviet Far Eastern Railway to Khasan. The station at Khasan was opened on 28 September 1951, and in 1952 a wooden railway bridge was built across the Tumen River to Tumangang in North Korea,^[8] connecting to the newly built Hongŭi Line from Tumangang to Hongŭi on the Hambuk Line.

Following the end of the Korean War, the Hambuk Line - as the Ch'ŏngjin-Namyang-Rajin line had been renamed - was rebuilt with Soviet and Chinese assistance. The Korean-Russian Friendship Bridge across the Tumen River was commissioned on 9 August 1959, replacing the temporary wooden bridge, which had grown to be insufficient for the traffic crossing the river,^[9] and in 1965 the P'yŏngra Line was completed to Rajin, meeting up with the terminus of the Hambuk Line.

In 2008 work was begun to convert the line from the DPRK-Russia border to the port at Rajin to dual (standard and Russian) gauge, including the entirety of the Hongŭi Line and the Hongŭi-Rajin section of the Hambuk Line.^[10]

Services

Freight

Much of the on-line freight traffic involves the transport of magnetite and ironstone from the Musan Mining Complex and other mines on the Musan Line and coal from mines on the Hoeryŏng Colliery Line and the Kogŏnwŏn Line, to the Kim Chaek Iron & Steel Complex at Kimchaek and the Ch'ŏngjin Steel Works in Ch'ŏngjin, and import-export traffic to and from Russia via the Hongŭi Line and via Namyang Station to and from China; the primary exports shipped through Namyang to China are magnetite, talc and steel, and the main import is coke.^[2]

Passenger

Three pairs of passenger express trains are known to operate on this line:^[1]

• Express trains 7/8, operating between P'yŏngyang and Moscow via Tumangang, run on this line between Rajin and Hongŭi;
• Express trains 9/10, operating between P'yŏngyang and Musan, run on this line between Chŏngjin and Komusan;
• Semi-express trains 113/114, operating between West P'yŏngyang and Unsŏng, run on this line between Ch'ŏngjin and Unsŏng;

There are also long-distance trains between Kalma on the Pyongra Line and Rajin via Ch'ŏngjin and Hoeryŏng; between Ch'ŏngjin and Rajin via Hoeryŏng; between Haeju on the Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line and Unsŏng via Ch'ŏngjin and Hoeryŏng; and between Tanch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line and Tumangang via Ch'ŏngjin and Hoeryŏng.^[2]

There are also various commuter trains that serve the main industrial zones along the line, including trains 623/624 operating between Rajin and Sŏnbong;^[1] between Kogŏnwŏn on the Kogŏnwŏn Line and Hunyung via Singŏn; between Hoeryŏng and Ch'ŏn'gŏ-ri; between Ch'angp'yŏng and Sŏkpong; between Namyang and Hunyung; and between Hoeryŏng and Sech'ŏn via Sinhakp'o.^[2]

Route

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

Main Line

Sech'ŏn Branch

Electrified.

Tongp'o Branch

Not electrified.

Sŏngp'yŏng Branch

Not electrified.

Ch'undu Branch

Not electrified.

Sŭngri Branch

Not electrified.

References

Hambuk Line
Mainline	Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn Susŏng Sŏngmak Changhŭng Hyŏngje Puryŏng Komusan Sŏkpong Ch'angp'yŏng Chŏn'gŏri P'ungsan Ch'angdu Chungdo Taedŏk Hoeryŏng Ch'ŏngnyŏn Kŭmsaeng Koryŏngjin Sinhakp'o Hakp'o Sinjŏn Kanp'yŏng Sambong Chongsŏng Kangalli Sugup'o Kangyang Namyang P'ungri Onsŏng P'ung'in Hwangp'a Hunyung Hamyŏn Saebyŏl Nongp'o Ryongdangri Singŏn Sinasan Songhak Haksong Ch'ŏnghak Sahoe Hongŭi Mulgol Kuryongp'yŏng Ungsang Sŏnbong Paekhwa Kwan'gok Rajin
Sech'ŏn Branch	Sinhakp'o Sech'ŏn Chungbong
Tongp'o Branch	Chongsŏng Tongp'o
Sŏngp'yŏng Branch	Kangalli Sŏngp'yŏng
Ch'undu Branch	Songhak Ch'undu
Sŭngri Branch	Sŏnbong Sŭngri