Hwanghae Line


Hwanghae Line was the name given by the privately owned Chōsen Railway of colonial Korea to its network of railway lines in Hwanghae Province. 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 to Naeto via Hwasan opened by the Mitsubishi Ironworks on 20 May 1919 for use as a private industrial railway. 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.
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, and on 16 November of the following year it was extended from Jaeryeong to Sincheon, a distance of.
On 1 April 1923, the West Chosen Development Railway merged with five other railway companies to form the Chōsen Railway, 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 Chosen 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. 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. 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, 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 Gyeongseong 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. A extension west from East Haeju to Haeju was opened on 1 July 1933. Chōtetsu then added three new stations, opening Seobyeon Station, south of East Haeju, on 11 May 1934, and Sindeok Station between Sinwon and Haseong, from Sinwon, on 11 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. Finally, on 10 May 1937 a branch was opened from Dongpo to Jeongdo, followed by a extension from Chwiya to Ongjin nine days later.
DateSectionLengthOriginal Builder
20 May 1919Sanghae–NaetoMitsubishi Ironworks
21 December 1920Sariwon–JaeryeongWest Chōsen Development Railway
16 November 1921Jaeryeong–SincheonWest Chōsen Development Railway
1 September 1924Hwasan–MiryeokChōsen Railway
1 September 1925Miryeok–HaseongChōsen Railway
1 November 1929Sincheon–SugyoChōsen Railway
12 November 1929Sinwon–HakhyeonChōsen Railway
11 December 1930Hakhyeon–East HaejuChōsen Railway
12 November 1931East Haeju–Haeju PortChōsen Railway
21 December 1931East Haeju–Yeon'anChōsen Railway
21 December 1931Cheongdan–DeokdalChōsen Railway
1 September 1932Yeon'an–ToseongChōsen Railway
1 July 1933Haeju–East HaejuChōsen Railway
11 December 1936Haeju–ChwiyaChōsen Railway
21 January 1937Sugyo–JangyeonChōsen Railway
10 May 1937Dongpo–JeongdoChōsen Railway
19 May 1937Chwiya–OngjinChōsen 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:
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".
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. 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:
Distance
Price
Korean yen		---Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		---
0.0-06:4511:5018:35Sariwon81.82.9009:4515:5420:52
81.82.9010:0715:2721:47Jangyeon0.0-06:1012:2517:35

Distance
Price
Korean yen		----Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		----
0.0-08:3012:0015:0518:25Sariwon73.32.6009:2812:4916:0919:35
73.32.6011:1415:0018:0021:10Haeju0.0-06:5010:0513:2516:50

Distance
Price
Korean yen		-----Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		------
0.0-08:4011:4313:4516:1519:35Toseong81.52.9009:0611:0914:1017:0019:1620:56
81.52.9011:3114:5717:0019:1222:25Haeju0.0-06:2008:2511:2014:0516:2518:00

Distance
Price
Korean yen		-----Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		-----
0.0-08:1511:4515:2017:2019:35East Haeju42.61.5507:4008:1510:2113:1520:05
42.61.5509:4813:1816:5318:5421:35Ongjin0.0-06:0006:3007:5011:3018:20

Distance
Price
Korean yen		717350575-775097981Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		727450876-785128082
0.0-06:5008:4009:3011:4013:0015:1516:5517:3021:10East Haeju7.4
6.8		0.2507:4609:4911:0012:3615:0516:0118:3018:4622:06
6.10.2507:0708:5309:5111:5313:2115:2817:1617:4321:23Dongpo1.3
0.7		0.2507:3409:3410:4012:2414:1015:4918:1018:3421:54
7.40.2507:1008:56
↓
11:56...15:31
↓
17:4621:26Haeju Port0.0-07:3009:30
↑
12:20...15:45
↑
18:3021:50
6.80.25......09:55.........17:20......Jeongdo0.0-......10:30.........18:00......

Distance
Price
Korean yen		---Station nameDistance
Price
Korean yen		---
0.0-08:4013:0018:45Hwasan2.10.1509:1813:2819:18
2.10.1508:5313:0818:53Naeto0.0-09:1013:2019:10

Routes