Paengma Line

The Paengma Line is a non-electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the Korean State Railway in North P'yŏngan Province, North Korea, running from Yŏmju on the P'yŏngŭi Line to South Sinŭiju, likewise on the P'yŏngui Line.^[1]

Paengma Line
Overview
Native name	백마선(白馬線)
Status	Operational
Owner	Temporary Military Railway (1905–1906) National Railway (1906–1909) Korea Railway (1909–1910) Chosen Government Railway (1910–1917) South Manchuria Railway (1917–1925) Chosen Government Railway (1925–1945) Korean State Railway (since 1945)
Locale	North P'yŏngan
Termini	Yŏmju South Sinŭiju
Stations	7
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail
History
Opened	28 April 1905 1 April 1908 (Passenger service)
Technical
Line length	39.6 km (24.6 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	400 m (1,300 ft)
Maximum incline	13‰
Route map Legend P'yŏngŭi Line 0.0 Yŏmju P'yŏngŭi Line Taebong River (bridge appx 40 m (130 ft)) 8.7 Ryangch'aek Ryangch'aek Bearing Factory Taebong River (bridge appx 35 m (115 ft)) 16.5 P'ihyŏn (bridge appx 35 m (115 ft)) (tunnel appx 255 m (837 ft)) 23.0 Ryonggyeri 2.6 P'ihyŏn Brick Factory Taebong River (bridge appx 450 m (1,480 ft)) Ponghwa Chemical Complex 25.8 Paengma (bridge appx 30 m (98 ft)) tank car loading Ponghwa Chemical Complex 3.8 underground facility (bridge appx 75 m (246 ft)) (tunnel appx 230 m (750 ft)) 3.1 Songhwa Residence (tunnel appx 545 m (1,788 ft)) 37.0 Sŏkha (bridge appx 70 m (230 ft)) P'yŏngŭi Line 39.6 South Sinŭiju Tŏkhyŏn Line P'yŏngŭi Line

Paengma Line
Chosŏn'gŭl	백마선
Hancha	白馬線
Revised Romanization	Baegma-seon
McCune–Reischauer	Paengma-sŏn

Description

The ruling grade of the line is 13‰, and the minimum curve radius is 400 m (1,300 ft). There are 26 bridges with a total length of 1,363 m (4,472 ft), and two tunnels with a total length of 803 m (2,635 ft).^[2]

History

For the original line's history and other information prior to 1945, see Gyeongui Line (1904–1945).

The Namsi (now Yŏmju)–South Sinŭiju stretch of railway via Paengma was opened on 28 April 1905 by the Temporary Military Railway as part of the mainline of the Kyŏngŭi Line from Kyŏngsŏng (Seoul) to Sinŭiju. On 16 October 1943, South Sinŭiju Station became a connecting station with the Sinŭiju–Yangsi–Namsi Yangsi Line, which the Chosen Government Railway had taken over from the privately owned Tasado Railway on 1 April of that year.^[3]

After the establishment of the DPRK and the nationalisation of its railways to create the Korean State Railway, the line from Ryongch'ŏn (formerly Yangsi) to Yŏmju (formerly Namsi) remained separate as the Yangsi Line. In 1964 the Korean State Railway decided to make the shorter Yangsi Line the mainline of the P'yŏngui Line, and the former mainline between Yŏmju and South Sinŭiju was separated, becoming the current Paengma Line.

Services

See also: List of passenger train services in North Korea

There is extensive freight traffic on the line, serving the large Ponghwa Chemical Complex at Paengma and several other factories.^[2]

A pair of local trains, numbered 418/419, operate between Sinŭiju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Yŏmju, running along this line instead of the P'yŏngŭi line.^[1] There is also a short branch from Paengma to the private Songhwa Residence.^[4]

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
0.0	0.0	Yŏmju	염주 (鹽州)	Namsi	남시 (南市)	P'yŏngŭi Line
8.7	8.7	Ryangch'aek	량책 (良策)	Yangch'aek	양책 (良策)
16.5	7.8	P'ihyŏn	피현 (枇峴)
23.0	6.5	Ryonggyeri	룡계리 (龍溪里)	Yonggyeri	용계리 (龍溪里)
25.8	2.8	Paengma	백마 (白馬)
37.0	11.2	Sŏkha	석하 (石下)
39.6	2.6	South Sinŭiju (Namsinŭiju)	남신의주 (南新義州)			P'yŏngŭi Line, Tŏkhyŏn Line

References

• Ministry of Railways (1937), 鉄道停車場一覧. 昭和12年10月1日現在(The List of the Stations), p485

1. Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6
2. North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Paengma Line (in Korean)
3. 朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 4837, 19 March 1943
4. "A bird's eye view of the prisons and palaces of Kim Jong-il's North Korea".