Changsang Line Explained

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Changsang Line
Native Name:장상선 (長上線)
Native Name Lang:ko
Type:Heavy rail, Freight rail
Status:Operational
Locale:South P'yŏngan
Start:Hyangjang
End:Changsang
Stations:2
Open:1945
Owner:West Chosen Central Railway (1945)
Korean State Railway (since 1945)
Linelength Km:1.9
Tracks:Single track
Electrification:3000 V DC Catenary
Context:north
Hangul:장상선
Hanja:Korean: {{linktext|長|上|線
Mr:Changsang-sŏn
Rr:Jangsang-seon

The Changsang Line is an electrified freight-only railway line of the Korean State Railway in South P'yŏngan Province, North Korea, running from Hyangjang on the P'yŏngdŏk Line to Changsang.[1]

History

On 21 June 1940, the West Chosen Central Railway, which since 1939 had been operating a line between Sŭnghori and P'yŏngnam Kangdong,[2] received approval from the Railway Bureau of the Government-General of Korea to build a line to the Changsang coal fields via Tŏkch'ŏn;[3] the Chosen Anthracite Company had opened mines around Changsang and Tŏkch'ŏn in 1938[4]

From Tŏkch'ŏn, which it had reached in the summer of 1945, the West Chosen Central Railway planned its Tŏkpal Line line to run from Tŏkch'ŏn to Kujang via Changsangri (today's Changsang Station), to connect there with the Chosen Government Railway's Manp'o Line. However, the terrain proved too difficult, and, after adding a signal station at Hyangjang between Hyangwŏn and Changsangri, construction on the current alignment of the line to Kujang began. However, this wasn't completed before the end of the Pacific War, and it was only after the end of the Korean War that the connection to Kujang and the Manp'o Line was finally made.[5]

After the partition of Korea following Japan's defeat in the war, all railways in North Korea were nationalised and made part of the Korean State Railway.[1] The P'yŏngyang Colliery Line (P'yŏngyang–Sinsŏngch'ŏn) and the former West Chosen Central Railway mainline (Sinsŏngch'ŏn–Tŏkch'ŏn) were joined together to form the P'yŏngdŏk Line; after the Tŏkpal Line was extended to Kujang after the end of the Korean War, it was later merged with the P'yŏngdŏk Line, but the line's name was not changed, while the Hyangjang–Changsangri section became the Changsang Line. Electrification of the line was completed in June 1979.[5]

Route

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

Distance (km) Station Name Former Name
Total S2S Transcribed Chosŏn'gŭl (Hanja) Transcribed Chosŏn'gŭl (Hanja) Connections
-5.70.0HyangwŏnKorean: 향원 (鄕元)P'yŏngdŏk Line
0.05.7HyangjangKorean: 향장 (鄕長)P'yŏngdŏk Line
1.91.9ChangsangKorean: 장상 (長上)ChangsangriKorean: 장상리 (長上里)

Notes and References

  1. Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō)
  2. Japanese: 朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3851, 20 November 1939 (in Japanese)
  3. Japanese: 朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4021, 18 June 1940 (in Japanese)
  4. Web site: http://www.osaka-ue.ac.jp/file/general/5177 . ja:植民地朝鮮における石炭産業 - 大阪経済大学.
  5. Web site: 평덕선 .