The Hambuk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Ch'à Ângjin on the P'yà Ângra Line to Rajin, likewise on the P'yà Ângra line.
The Hambuk line connects to the Hongà Âi Line at Hongà Âi, which is North Korea's only rail connection to Russia, and at Namyang to the Namyang Border Line, which leads to Tumen, China, via the bridge over the Tumen River.
Although located entirely inside North Hamgyà Âng Province, this line is one of the DPRK's main trunk railways. The line's total length is ; in terms of length, it is the second-longest rail line in the country after the P'yà Ângra Line, accounting for 7.7% of the national total of railway lines.
Over ten rail lines - secondary mainlines and branchlines - connect to the Hambuk Line, including the Musan Line, the Hoeryà Âng Colliery Line, the Kogà Ânwà Ân Line, the Hoeam Line, and the Hongà Âi Line, along with numerous branchlines. The Hambuk Line connects three cities and four counties - Ch'à Ângjin City, Puryà Âng County, Hoeryà Âng City, Onsà Âng County, Kyà Ângwà Ân County, Kyà Ânghà Âng County, and the Rason Special City.
In terms of regional characteristics, the Hambuk Line passes through two largely distinct areas. It runs inland in mountainous terrain between Panjuk to Hoeryà Âng, then along the Tumen River and the northern border of the country all the way to Rajin. The steepest part of the line is between Puryà Âng and Ch'angp'yà Âng, where the ruling gradient is over 20â°. Conversely, the route on the Tumen River's bank along the national border is comparatively flat.
There is double track from Susà Âng, where the line connects to the Kangdà Âk line, to Komusan, where the Musan line begins; the dual-gauge section (standard and Russian gauges) from Hongà Âi to Rajin is also double-tracked.
There are service facilities for locomotives in Hoeryà Âng and Sambong and for rolling stock in Namyang.
The Hambuk Line was created by the combination of a number of lines that were originally built by several different railway companies.
The Ch'à ÂngjinâÂÂHoeryà Âng section was originally part of the Hamgyà Âng Line of the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu), completed in three stages between November 1916 and November 1917.
The section from Hoeryà Âng to Tonggwan (now called Kangalli) line was built by the privately owned Tomun Railway between 1920 and 1924, and in 1929 was nationalised by Sentetsu, which named it the West Tomun Line. The East Tomun Line, from Tonggwan to Unggi (now Sà Ânbong), was built by Sentetsu between 1929 and 1933; after completion of the East Tomun Line, it was merged with the West Tomun Line to create the Tomun Line.
In October 1933, management of the entire line from Ch'à Ângjin to Unggi was transferred to the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu); at that time, the Ch'à ÂngjinâÂÂSambong section was added to the existing (Wà ÂnsanâÂÂCh'à Ângjin) Hamgyà Âng Line, whilst the SambongâÂÂUnggi section became Mantetsu's North Chosen Line. Mantetsu connected this line to the port at Rajin by opening the Ungna Line from Unggi to Rajin on 1 November 1935.
In 1940, the Ch'à ÂngjinâÂÂSambong line was transferred back to the Chosen Government Railway, and was made part of the Hamgyà Âng Line running from Wà Ânsan to Sambong. An express train from Seoul to Mudanjiang via this line was inaugurated at this time. Until the end of the Pacific War, the Ch'à ÂngjinâÂÂSambong section remained part of Sentetsu's Hamgyà Âng Line, the SangsambongâÂÂUnggi section and the adjoining branch lines remained part of Mantetsu's North Chosen Line, and the Ungna Line remained part of Mantetsu's network, as well.
Service on the line was suspended after the Soviet invasion at the end of the Pacific War. The damage sustained by the line during the war - including the destruction of the Tumen River bridges at both Hunyung and Sambong - was slow to be repaired due to strained relations between the Soviets and the Korean People's Committees; those two bridges have not been repaired to the present day. However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Soviets built a branchline from Baranovsky on the Vladivostok branch of the Soviet Far Eastern Railway to Khasan. The station at Khasan was opened on 28 September 1951, and in 1952 a wooden railway bridge was built across the Tumen River to Tumangang in North Korea, connecting to the newly built Hongà Âi Line from Tumangang to Hongà Âi on the North Chosen Line.
Following the end of the Korean War, the Ch'à ÂngjinâÂÂSambong section of the Hamgyà Âng Line, the SambongâÂÂUnggi (renamed Sà Ânbong) section of the North Chosen Line, and the Ungna Line from Sambà Âng to Rajin were merged to create the Hambuk Line; this line, having been damaged during the war, was rebuilt with Soviet and Chinese assistance. The Korean-Russian Friendship Bridge across the Tumen River was commissioned on 9 August 1959, replacing the temporary wooden bridge, which had grown to be insufficient for the traffic crossing the river, and in 1965 the P'yà Ângra Line was completed to Rajin, meeting up with the terminus of the Hambuk Line.
In 2008 work was begun to convert the line from the DPRKâÂÂRussia border to the port at Rajin to dual (standard and Russian) gauge, including the entirety of the Hongà Âi Line and the Hongà Âi-Rajin section of the Hambuk Line.
Construction of a branch from Nongp'o to a new industrial facility was begun in 2018.
Much of the on-line freight traffic involves the transport of magnetite and ironstone from the Musan Mining Complex and other mines on the Musan Line and coal from mines on the Hoeryà Âng Colliery Line and the Kogà Ânwà Ân Line, to the Kim Chaek Iron & Steel Complex at Kimchaek and the Ch'à Ângjin Steel Works in Ch'à Ângjin, and import-export traffic to and from Russia via the Hongà Âi Line and to and from China via Namyanggukkyà Âng Line ; the primary exports shipped through Namyang to China are magnetite, talc and steel, and the main import is coke.
Three pairs of passenger express trains are known to operate on this line:
There are also long-distance trains between Kalma on the Pyongra Line and Rajin via Ch'à Ângjin and Hoeryà Âng; between Ch'à Ângjin and Rajin via Hoeryà Âng; between Haeju on the Hwanghae Ch'à Ângnyà Ân Line and Onsà Âng via Ch'à Ângjin and Hoeryà Âng; and between Tanch'à Ân on the P'yà Ângra Line and Tumangang via Ch'à Ângjin and Hoeryà Âng.
There are also various commuter trains that serve the main industrial zones along the line, including trains 623/624 operating between Rajin and Sà Ânbong; between Kogà Ânwà Ân on the Kogà Ânwà Ân Line and Hunyung via Singà Ân; between Hoeryà Âng and Ch'à Ân'gà Â-ri; between Ch'angp'yà Âng and Sà Âkpong; between Namyang and Hunyung; and between Hoeryà Âng and Sech'à Ân via Sinhakp'o.
A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.