Dorasan Station

The Gyeongui Line is one of the oldest railway lines in Korea. When opened in 1906 it linked Seoul in what is now South Korea to P'yŏngyang and Sinŭiju in what is now North Korea. At Seoul, the line connected with the Gyeongbu Line to Busan, while at Sinŭiju, the line connected with the South Manchuria Railway, linking the Korean railway system to the rest of Asia and Europe.

[edit] 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 around Munsan (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 + Busan) 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 from Pyongyang to Sunan 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. On May 17, 2007, the first train, carrying North and South Korean delegations, traveled from Munsan Station in the South to Kaesong in the North.^[1] A test run on the Donghae 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.^[2]

[edit] Current Services

The South Korean section of the Gyeongui Line was integrated with the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system on July 1, 2009. The northernmost subway station is Munsan, and the subway runs through Paju and Ilsan, then all the way into Seoul Station.

The term "subway" in reference to this line is somewhat of a misnomer, as the line runs underground for less than three percent of its length. It's included as part of the metro system--it's newly electrified and double tracked, uses subway cars, is shown on subway maps in Seoul, and has free transfers with Seoul Subway Line 3, Line 6, and (off-platform) Line 1--but it's almost fully aboveground. It simply follows the existing line built 100 years ago. It runs largely through countryside rice paddies, forests, and vegetable fields, and outside of Seoul rarely enters urbanized areas. It is mostly at-grade, and includes several at-grade crossings with local roads, where Korail employees stand by on duty to stop traffic.

The current section from Seoul Station to Digital Media City Station is a branch line, not the main line. Most trains go from Munsan to Digital Media City and stop, while only one or two trains per hour go all the way to Seoul Station. The Gyeongui Line, then, has strong transfers to Lines 3 and 6, but it can be a long wait for those counting on a train to take you in to Seoul Station to transfer with Line 1.

Before the integration with the subway system, the most common service on the line was a Tonggeun train service between Seoul and Imjingang, with one Saemaeul-ho train. Since the line was integrated with the Seoul Subway system, Tonggeun service has been restricted to a few stations in the north, from Munsan to Imjingang, with a few continuing on to Dorasan, near the North Korean border.

[edit] Future

There is a new, mostly-underground section of the metro line currently under construction that will link Gajwa Station in nowrthwestern Seoul to Yongsan Station in downtown Seoul. When completed in 2011, trains will run from Munsan in the far north of South Korea, south into Seoul at Yongsan Station, then continue eastward on what is currently the Jungang Line all the way to Yongmun Station, near Gangwon-do. It is known that the two lines will directly link with each other to form one (very long) subway line; it is not clear, however, what the line will be called. (It may be named after the two current line names in some combination, or it may simply be given a number such as "Seoul Subway Line 10.")

[edit] Gyeongui Metro

[edit] Seoul Station branch

[edit] Regular rail service north of Munsan

[edit] See also

• Transportation in North Korea
• Transportation in South Korea
• Korail
• List of Korea-related topics

[edit] Notes