The P'yà Ângà Âi Line is an electrified main trunk line of the Korean State Railway of North Korea, running from P'yà Ângyang to Sinà Âiju on the border with China. It is the main corridor for overland traffic between North Korea and China, and is one of the country's most important rail lines. A bridge over the Yalu River connects Sinà Âiju to the Chinese city of Dandong and the Shendan Line of the China Railway to Shenyang and Chinese points beyond.
The total length of the line is , which corresponds to 5.3% of the total national railway network. Although most of the line is single track, the P'yà ÂngyangâÂÂKalli (), Sukch'à ÂnâÂÂà Âp'a () and Sinà ÂijuâÂÂSouth Sinà Âiju sections () are double-tracked. The ruling grade on the line is 11â°, and the minimum curve radius is . The average distance between stations is
The P'yà ÂngyangâÂÂSà Âgam section is under the jurisdiction of the P'yà Ângyang Railway Bureau, while the Sà ÂgamâÂÂSinà Âiju section is under the Kaech'à Ân Railway Bureau.
There are 177 bridges with a total length of and 5 tunnels with a total length of . Although the average length of the bridges is only , the P'yà Ângà Âi Line nevertheless features the longest railway bridge in the DPRK - over in length. There are locomotive depots at P'yà Ângyang, West P'yà Ângyang, Chà Ângju and Sinà Âiju Ch'à Ângnyà Ân stations, and two rolling stock maintenance facilities, one at P'yà Ângyang, and one for passenger cars at Kangan station in Sinà Âiju.
Deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il used to travel on the P'yà Ângà Âi Line for visits to China, as he did not fly.
For the original line's history and other information prior to 1945, see Gyeongui Line (1904âÂÂ1945).
The Kyà Ângà Âi Line was originally opened by the Temporary Military Railway Office established by the Empire of Japan to aid in the movement of its forces during the Russo-Japanese War and to strengthen its influence over Korea. Freight service on the entirety of the line from Kyà Ângsà Âng to Sinà Âiju started in April 1906, and on 1 September of that year, the Railway Office took over control of the Kyà Ângà Âi Line from the military and merged it with the Kyà Ângbu Railway to create the National Railway Administration, which took over ownership and operation of the Kyà Ângà Âi Line.
Following the end of the Pacific War and the subsequent partition of Korea, the Kyà Ângà Âi Line was divided at the 38th parallel, between Tosà Âng and Sariwà Ân. On 25 August 1945, the Soviet Army began operating trains on the Kyà Ângà Âi Line north of Sariwà Ân, and on 10 August 1946 the Provisional PeopleâÂÂs Committee for North Korea nationalised all railways in the Soviet-occupied part of Korea, creating the Korean State Railway, and on 9 September 1948 the Kyà Ângà Âi Line was split, with the P'yà ÂngyangâÂÂSinà Âiju section becoming the P'yà Ângà Âi Line (from the names of the two termini, P'yà Ângyang and Sinà Âiju), and the P'yà ÂngyangâÂÂKaesà ÂngâÂÂDMZ section becoming the P'yà Ângbu Line (from P'yà Ângyang and the theoretical southern terminus of the line, Pusan). Despite the partition, trains continued to operate along the Kyà Ângà Âi Line until the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. On 31 December 1950, a passenger train, consisting of the locomotive MaTeI 10 and 25 cars, going from Hanp'o to Munsan was ordered to stop at Changdan by the US Army and was destroyed. The locomotive is now on display at Imjingak. The Munsan-Kaesong section was thus closed, severing the northâÂÂsouth railway connection. Between April 1937 and May 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army built a second bridge across the Yalu River; both this newer bridge and the original bridge were attacked repeatedly between November 1950 and February 1951 by US Air Force bombers, but were repeatedly repaired. After the end of the Korean War, the 1911 bridge was left destroyed, and only the newer bridge was repaired and returned to use. In 1990 the bridge was given its current name, SinoâÂÂKorean Friendship Bridge. The entirety of the line suffered severe damage during the Korean War.
After the end of the Korean War, with Soviet and Chinese assistance the line was quickly rebuilt and modernised.
An agreement was signed between the DPRK and China on cross-border train service on 5 February 1954, and a BeijingâÂÂP'yà Ângyang through-train service began, using China Railway rolling stock, on 3 June of the same year. In 1964, through a rearrangement of lines, the main line was shortened by almost . To accomplish this, the South Sinà ÂijuâÂÂNaejungâÂÂYà Âmju section of the Yangsi Line was made the mainline of the P'yà Ângà Âi Line, while the former mainline, South Sinà ÂijuâÂÂPaengmaâÂÂYà Âmju, was split off to become the current Paengma Line. Also, in August of that year, the electrification of the entire line from P'yà Ângyang to Sinà Âiju was completed, and at the same time the track was upgraded with heavy rail, and 68% of the sleepers were replaced with concrete sleepers. Semi-automatic train control was also installed, with the line divided into two sections, P'yà ÂngyangâÂÂKalli and KalliâÂÂSinà Âiju.
The 1970s saw the opening of new branchlines connecting to the P'yà Ângà Âi Line mainline - the Sà Âhae Line (also known as the Anju Colliery Line) from Mundà Âk to Namdong to serve coal mines in the area, as well as the Ch'à Ângch'à Ân'gangâÂÂSongdoâÂÂKubongsanâÂÂRyonghà Âng Kubongsan Line, and in 1976, the Ch'à Ânghwaryà Âk Line from Kubongsan to the Ch'à Ângch'à Ân River Thermal Power Plant and the Namhà Âng Line from Songdo to Namhà Âng to serve the Namhà Âng Youth Chemical Complex; both the power plant and the chemical complex were opened that year.
To facilitate the construction of the SÃ Âhae Satellite Launching Station, the Ch'Ã Âlsan Line was extended in the early 2000s to the launch facility via Ch'Ã Âlsan and Tongchang. On 22 April 2004, the worst railway disaster in the DPRK occurred when a train carrying ammonium nitrate fertiliser exploded at Ryongch'Ã Ân Station.
On 8 December 2013, an agreement was reached between North Korea and a consortium of Chinese companies to construct a high-speed railway connecting Kaesà Âng, P'yà Ângyang, and Sinà Âiju. The project is to be a build-operate-transfer arrangement, in which the construction, scheduled to take five years, will be funded by the consortium, which will then operate the line for 30 years, after which the Railway Ministry will take over operations and complete ownership of the line. The rail line is to be a double-track line of about with an operating speed of over .
The P'yà Ângà Âi Line serves numerous important industrial centres such as Tongrim, Mundà Âk, Chà Ângju and the Sinà Âiju Industrial Zone, as well as Tà Âkhyà Ân (iron ore), Ryongamp'o (machinery manufacturing), Paengma (chemicals), Ryangch'aek (petrochemicals, machinery), Kusà Âng (machinery, textiles), Ch'à Ângsu (chemicals), Namhà Âng (chemicals), Kaech'à Ân (coal) and Ch'à Ângnam (coal), thus being one of the DPRK's major economic arteries. It also plays a major role in foreign trade; Sinà Âiju station is the most important railway station in the DPRK in terms of quantity of freight moved for import and export, accounting for 59.1% of export cargo and 38.5% of import cargo volume in 1983, as not only freight to and from China was shipped via Sinà Âiju, but also cargo to and from the Soviet Union and the socialist countries in Europe. Although much of the traffic with Europe has dried up since the collapse of communism in Europe and the shift of traffic to and from Russia to the Hongà Âi Line, Sinà Âiju still remains the most important railway border station.
According to the 1996 timetable, the travel time between P'yà Ângyang and Sinà Âiju was 4 hours 30 minutes; in comparison, the travel time over the same relation for the "Koa" limited express of 1942 was 4 hours 15 minutes, despite running via the longer Paengma Line. Although in the past speeds of up to were reached on the line, in recent years the average speeds of passenger trains on the line have fallen to around . There are also various commuter trains on the line, such as between Sinà Âiju and Ryongchà Ân, and between Sinà Âiju and Chà Ângju, and to the Namhà Âng Youth Chemical Complex. The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line:
A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified.