Railway Corporation Begins Restoration of Disconnected Section 'Gangneung~Jejin' on Donghae Bukbu Line

Section of the Donghae Bukbu Line 'Gangneung to Jejin' Railway Construction Project. Provided by Korea Rail Network Authority

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The restoration of the disconnected section of the Donghae Bukbu Line ‘Gangneung~Jejin’ is being promoted. It has been disconnected for 55 years.

The Korea Rail Network Authority announced on the 5th that it held the ‘Donghae Bukbu Line Gangneung~Jejin Railway Construction Project Groundbreaking Ceremony.’

This project is part of the implementation of the inter-Korean railway connection agreed upon in the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, aiming to open the Gangneung~Jejin section by 2027.

The Donghae Bukbu Line is a longitudinal railway (192 km) connecting Anbyeon-gun in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and Yangyang-gun in the south. This section was opened in 1937 but was suspended due to the Korean War and the line was abolished in 1967, remaining disconnected to this day.

However, following the inter-Korean railway connection project promoted by the 2000 inter-Korean summit agreement, the government declared its will for inter-Korean railway connection and modernization again in the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration. In December of the same year, the ‘Inter-Korean Railway and Road Connection Modernization Groundbreaking Ceremony’ was held at Kaesong Panmun Station, laying the groundwork for restoring the disconnected section of the Donghae Bukbu Line.

The restoration of the Donghae Bukbu Line was selected as an inter-Korean exchange cooperation project in 2020 and was exempted from preliminary feasibility studies, allowing the project to start early.

A total of 2.7 trillion KRW is expected to be invested in the project, connecting 112 km from Gangneung through Yangyang and Sokcho to Goseong (Jejin Station).

Six stations will be established along the route. Gangneung Station and Jejin Station will be renovated, and four new stations will be built in Jumunjin, Yangyang, Sokcho, and Ganseong.

The Korea Rail Network Authority plans to operate the distributed power high-speed train KTX-Eum 12 times on weekdays and 15 times on weekends after the opening of the Donghae Bukbu Line. The train is expected to cover the distance from Gangneung Station to Jejin Station in just one hour.

In particular, when connected with the Donghae Nambu Line (Busan~Ulsan~Pohang), which opened in December last year, and the Donghae Jungbu Line (Pohang~Samcheok), scheduled to open in 2023, an integrated East Sea railway network starting from Busan to Gangneung and Goseong will be established, enabling future improvements in inter-Korean relations and railway modernization projects.

Based on this, the Korea Rail Network Authority expects that the connection to the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) network will secure new growth engines on the Korean Peninsula and establish a foundation for cooperation in transportation, logistics, and energy for the East Sea economic community.

Kim Han-young, Director of the Korea Rail Network Authority, said, “Once the Donghae Bukbu Line is completed, an integrated railway network connecting east-west and north-south on the Korean Peninsula will be established, contributing to the creation of growth engines in the Gangwon region and balanced national development. The Korea Rail Network Authority will strive to complete a new economic map of the Korean Peninsula through the connection of the continental railway network.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.