- Gyeongui Line
Infobox Korean name
hangul=경의선
hanja=京義線
rr=Gyeonguiseon
mr=KyŏngŭisŏnThe Gyeongui Line is one of the oldest railway lines in
Korea . When opened in 1906 it linkedSeoul in what is nowSouth Korea to P'yŏngyang and Sinŭiju in what is nowNorth Korea . At Seoul, the line connected with theGyeongbu Line toBusan , while at Sinŭiju, the line connected with theSouth Manchuria Railway , linking the Korean railway system to the rest ofAsia andEurope .History
After the
division of Korea in 1945, trains stopped operating between the north and south halves of the country, meaning that southern trains probably terminated at Kaesŏng, which is now in North Korea but was at the time part of the US-administered southern zone. Northern trains would have terminated north of Kaesŏng.After the end of the
Korean War in 1953, southern trains were cut back to aroundMunsan (north of Seoul), with northern trains terminating at Kaesŏng. Around the same time, North Korea renamed the P'yŏngyang-Kaesŏng section of the line as the P'yŏngbu (P'yŏngyang + Pusan) Line and the P'yŏngyang-Sinŭiju section as the P'yŏngŭi (P'yŏngyang + Sinŭiju) Line. The DPRK sector is now 100% electrifed, although the double track section spans only fromPyongyang toSunan International Airport .Since the summit between the two Koreas in 2000, an effort has slowly been underway to reconnect the Gyeongui Line. Southern passenger service has been extended to
Dorasan on the edge of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and tracks have been built across the DMZ itself. In October 2004, the Northern connection from the DMZ to Kaesŏng was finally completed. OnMay 17 2007 , the first train, carrying North and South Korean delegations, traveled from Munsan Station in the South to Kaesong in the North. [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/world/asia/18korea.html?ref=asia|date=2007-05-18|accessdate=2007-05-18|title=North and South Send Trains Across the Korean Frontier|author=Choe Sang-hun|work=New York Times] A test run on theDonghae Bukbu Line also took place at the same time. According to South Korean representatives, the North has agreed in principle to regular passenger and freight service along the two train lines. [cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/18/ap3735081.html|work=Forbes|title=NKorea Agrees With Regular Train Service|author=Jae-soon Chang|accessdate=2007-05-18|date=2007-05-18]ervices
The Seoul-Imjingang section of the line has frequent passenger service. Most trains operating on the line are
Tonggeun , but one regularSaemaeul train is scheduled in timetable. There are plans to integrate this line with theSeoul Subway system.ee also
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Transportation in North Korea
*Transportation in South Korea
*Korail
*List of Korea-related topics Notes
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