Ullyul Line

Ŭllyul Line
Overview
Native name	은률선(殷栗線)
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/Freight Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	North Hwanghae South Hwanghae
Termini	Ŭnp'a Ch'ŏlgwang
Stations	18
Operation
Opened	Stages from 1920-1965
Closed	Unknown (Sariwŏn - Chaeryŏng) 2002 (Ryongjŏng Branch)
Owner	Korean State Railway
Operator(s)	Korean State Railway
Technical
Line length	120 km (estimated)
No. of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
Route map Legend P'yŏngbu Line 0.0 Sariwŏn Ch'ŏngnyŏn Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line, P'yŏngbu Line 1.5 West Sariwŏn Closed 3.6 Migok Closed ↑Sariwŏn/Ŭnp'a↓ 8.1 Sŏjong Closed Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line Ŭnp'a Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line Yangdong 11.9 Samgang Closed Sahae Line ↑Ŭnp'a/Chaeryŏng↓ Kŭmsan 16.0 Kŭmsan Closed 21.5 Chaeryŏng ↑Chaeryŏng/Sinch'ŏn↓ 25.0 Paeksŏk 29.0 Changchon Closed 32.4 Sinch'ŏn Onch'ŏn 35.1 Sinch'ŏn 41.2 Hwanghae Ryongmun ↑Sinch'ŏn/Samch'ŏn↓ 46.1 Munhwa Closed 51.6 Samch'ŏn 55.2 Kunghŭng Closed Wŏlbong 58.4 Yachon Closed 64.1 Sugyo ↑Samch'ŏn/Songhwa↓ Changyon Line Songhwa ↑Songhwa/Kwail↓ Sansu Kwail Sindae ↑Kwail/Ŭllyul↓ Ŭllyul Kumsanpo ↑Ŭllyul/Namp'o↓ 0.0 Ch'ŏlgwang Ryongjŏng Branch closed Sŏhaekammun Line ↑Namp'o/Ŭllyul↓ Sŏhae-ri closed Chŏngmunch'on closed 10.0 Ryongjŏng closed

Ullyul Line
Chosŏn'gŭl	은률선
Hancha	殷栗線
Revised Romanization	Eunnyulseon
McCune–Reischauer	Ŭllyulsŏn

The Ŭllyul Line is a non-electrified standard-gauge secondary line of the North Korean State Railway running from Ŭnp'a on the Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line to Ch'ŏlgwang on the Sŏhaekammun Line.^[1]

History

The line is originally one of the Hwanghae Lines of the Chosun Railway Co. Ltd (조선철도). The Sariwŏn–Changyŏn Railway was constructed with 762 mm narrow gauge and expanded in the 1920s and the 1930s as follows:

Date	Section	Length
21 December 1920	Sariwŏn (Sariwŏn Ch'ŏngnyŏn)–Chaeryŏng	21.5 km[2]
16 November 1921	Chaeryŏng–Sinch'ŏn	13.6 km
1 November 1929	Sinch'ŏn–Sugyo	29.0 km
21 January 1937	Sugyo–Changyŏn	17.7 km

The railway was nationalized on 1 April 1944 along with the other Hwanghae Lines and the name was changed to Changyŏn Line of the National Railway.^[3]

After the establishment of the government of North Korea the line was widened to standard gauge. For the connection with the Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line the section Ŭnp'a–Chaeryŏng was newly constructed, therefore the previous section, Sariwŏn–Chaeryŏng was closed.^[2] With the extension of the line in the direction of Ŭllyul county, the section Sugyo–Changyŏn was separated from the Sariwŏn–Ch'ŏlgwang, with the latter section receiving the present name.

Services

The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line:^[1]

• Semi-express trains 119-122/120-121, operating between Sinch'ŏn and Ch'ŏngjin Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run on this line between Sinch'ŏn and Ŭnp'a;
• Semi-express trains 138-139/140-141, operating between Manp'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Changyŏn, run on this line between Ŭnp'a and Sugyo;
• Regional trains 219/220, operating between Taedonggang and Ch'ŏlgwang, run on the entirety of this line between Ŭnp'a and Ch'ŏlgwang;
• Regional trains 244-245/246-247, operating between Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Ch'ŏlgwang, run on the entirety of this line between Ŭnp'a and Ch'ŏlgwang.

Route

Main Line

A yellow background in the "Distance" box indicates that section of the line is not electrified; a pink background indicates that section is 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge; an orange background indicates that section is non-electrified narrow gauge.

Distance	Station Name (Transcribed)	Station Name (Chosŏn'gŭl)	Connections
0.0	Ŭnp'a	은파	Hwanghae Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line
	Yangdong	양동
16.0	Kŭmsan	금산
21.5	Chaeryŏng	재령
25.0	Paeksŏk	백석
32.4	Sinch'ŏn Onch'ŏn	신천 온천
35.1	Sinch'ŏn	신천
41.3	Hwanghae Ryongmun	황해 룡문
51.7	Samch'ŏn	삼천
55.2	Wŏlbong	월봉
64.1	Sugyo	수교	Changyŏn Line
	Songhwa	송화
	Sansu	산수
	Kwail	과일
	Sindae	신대
	Ŭllyul	은률
	Kŭmsanp'o	금산포
	Ch'ŏlgwang	철광	Ryongjŏng Branch, Sŏhaekammun Line

Ryongjŏng Branch

The Ryongjŏng Branch, also known as the Ch'ŏlgwang Line, is a ten-kilometre long, non-electrified 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge line opened in 1962. At its peak the line carried 6,000 tonnes of ore daily. Besides the frequent trains to stations, there were 12 daily round trips to the port, each train consisting of 21 self-unloading hoppers. The line has been out of use since 2002.^[4]

Distance	Station Name (Transcribed)	Station Name (Chosŏn'gŭl)	Connections
	Ch'ŏlgwang	철광	Ŭllyul Line, Sŏhaekammun Line
	Sŏhae-ri	서해리
	Chŏngmunch'on	정문촌
10.0	Ryongjŏng	룡정

References

1. Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), 2007, Tokyo, ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6
2. 百年の鉄道旅行(The railway travel for 100 years): The map of Sariwon, scale 1:50000, 1977
3. 朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa Nr. 5143, 29 March 1944
4. http://www.farrail.net/pages/trip-reports-engl/report_nk-oct-2004.html

• Japanese Government Railways (1937), 鉄道停車場一覧. 昭和12年10月1日現在(The List of the Stations as of 1 October 1937), Kawaguchi Printing Company, Tokyo, p508