Rolling Stock of the Korean State Railway

The Korean State Railway operates a wide variety of electric, diesel and steam locomotives, along with a variety of electric multiple unit passenger trains. The KSR's motive power has been obtained from various sources. Much, mostly steam and Japanese-made electric locomotives, was inherited from the Chosen Government Railway (commonly known as Sentetsu), the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) and various privately-owned railways of the colonial era.[1]

Most electric locomotives were made in North Korea by the Kim Chŏng-tae Electric Locomotive Works, as new construction of domestic designs or rebuilds of older units; however, many diesel locomotives have been converted to electric operation at the same factory.[1] Apart from small diesel switchers and draisines, almost all diesel and steam locomotives were manufactured outside North Korea.[2]

Due to ongoing economic difficulties in North Korea, maintenance levels are poor; locomotive serviceability is estimated at 50%.[3] However, recently a major campaign to improve the operation and appearance of rolling stock and infrastructure, and a modernisation of the electric locomotive fleet has begun following an order issued by Kim Jong-un.[4]

Classification System

The Korean State Railway's classification system uses a two-character type designator and a class number.[5]

The type designator is 증기 (Chŭnggi, "steam") for steam locomotives and 내연 (Naeyŏn, "internal combustion") for diesel locomotives, and the class number is a three or four-digit serial number. The system behind the serial numbers is not clear.

For electric locomotives, a similar system is used. Prior to the introduction of the Red Flag 1 class locomotives, electric locomotives were given type designator 전기 (Chŏngi, "electric"). However, instead of a serial number as used on steam and diesel locomotives, a class number like those used by Sentetsu was assigned; however, instead of using Japanese numbers, this class number was based on Korean numbers. The four classes of electric locomotive that were inherited by the KSR were thus classified 전기하, Chŏngiha, "Electric 1" (from 하나, hana, "one"); 전기두, Chŏngidu, "Electric 2" (from 둘, tul, "two"); 전기서, Chŏngisŏ, "Electric 3" (from 셋, set, "three"); and 전기너, Chŏnginŏ, "Electric 4" (from 넷, net, "four"). Thus, as the Sentetsu designation デロイ "DeRoI" meant "first class of electric locomotive with six powered axles", Chŏngiha means "first class of electric locomotive". Therefore, 전기하3 means "third unit of the first class of electric locomotive". With the arrival of new electrics from Czechoslovakia, this system was continued with the Chŏngi-100 series (전기100).

However, after the introduction of the Red Flag 1 class locomotives (which were given their name by Kim Il-sung[6]), the above system was replaced for newly-built electric locomotives by a system more like that used for steam and diesel locomotives. However, instead of using a standard type designator ("steam" or "internal combustion"), this system uses a class name, such as "Red Flag" (붉은기, Pulg'ŭn'gi), followed by a three or four-digit serial number. The exception to this is the Kanghaenggun-class (강행군, "Arduous March") locomotives, which are numbered 1.5-01 through 1.5-11.[1]

Electric multiple-unit trainsets are classified like steam and diesel locomotives, using 전기 (Chŏngi, "electric") as the type designator, followed by a three or four digit serial number, continuing the pattern set by the early electric locomotives. However, the actual application of this to the rolling stock is inconsistent.

Standard-Gauge Electric Locomotives

When Korea was partitioned following Japan's defeat in the Pacific War, it was the North who benefitted from Sentetsu's first electrification project. The first stretch of electrified track in Korea was the Pokkye-Kosan section of the former Kyŏngwŏn Line, electrification of which had been completed on 27 March 1944,[7] and which after the partition was in the Northern half. Although electrification of the Chech'ŏn-P'unggi section of the Kyŏnggyŏng Line had been started in 1941, by the end of the war it was only 90% complete; this stretch was in the South after the partition.

By the end of the war, of the 26 electric locomotives that had been ordered by Sentetsu, only nine had been delivered; of these, eight were in operation on the electrified section of the Kyŏngwŏn Line, and one was in Seoul for repairs; when Sentetsu's rolling stock was officially divided in 1947, this split of electric locomotives was formalised as well.[8]

Electrification work resumed after the end of the war, and in 1948, the electrification of two further stretches was completed: the mountainous section from Yangdŏk to Ch'ŏnsŏng on the P'yŏngra Line, and Kaegu to Koin on the Manp'o Line.[9]

After the partition, the Allied General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo ordered the delivery of a further ten electric locomotives to Korea as war reparations from Japan.[10] Seven were eventually delivered, all to the South, based on the expectation that reunification would come quickly, and that the implementation of Sentetsu's electrification plans would continue. However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, during the occupation of much of the Korean Peninsula by the Korean People's Army seven of the eight electric locomotives were captured and taken to the north - the one unit that had been in Seoul for repairs at the time of Japan's surrender in the Pacific war, along with six of the seven units that had been delivered to the South from Japan after the partition. Thus, of the 16 electric locomotives that had been delivered from Japan, 15 ended up in the North after the end of the Korean War.[8]

The Korean War left all of the electrification in Korea destroyed,[1] and for several years the 15 electric locomotives in the North sat unused.[11] The Korean State Railway had not abandoned its plans to electrify, however, and along with the general reconstruction of its severely damaged infrastructure, re-electrification of previously electrified lines and new electrification of other lines was begun, and in 1956, the electrification of the Yangdŏk-Ch'ŏnsŏng section of the P'yŏngra Line was restored. At the same time, the 15 Japanese-built electric locomotives were refurbished at the engine shops at Yangdŏk.[11]

Electrification continued apace, and by 1964, 371.5 km of the P'yŏngra Line,[11] along with the entirety of the P'yŏngŭi Line,[12] had been electrified. As part of the modernisation of the country's railways and the ever-expanding electrification of the network, new electric locomotives were ordered from Czechoslovakia.[13] Later, a licence was obtained from Czechoslovakia, along with technology transfer, to manufacture electric locomotives at the Kim Chŏng-tae Electric Locomotive Works in P'yŏngyang, and all of North Korea's electric locomotives have been manufactured domestically since then.[1]

The production of the domestically-designed and produced Red Flag 1-class locomotives began in 1961.[6] Since the beginning of the 1980s, much of the production of "new" locomotives has involved the refurbishment and upgrade of previously-built units, sometimes retaining the existing body, sometimes building new bodywork for the locomotive; such is the case with the 5400-series Red Flag locomotives, which are built on older chassis, upgraded for higher performance, and enclosed in a newly-built body.[14]

Electric Locomotive Classes

Diesel Locomotives

Due to North Korea's extensive coal deposits and hydroelectric power generation facilities, dieselisation hasn't been a priority for the Korean State Railway as it has been for many other railways. With ample coal supplies to fire steam locomotives, and electrification of the rail network being expanded rapidly after the Korean War, serious dieselisation didn't start until the 1960s, first with the arrival of 14 shunting locomotives from Hungary,[16] followed by the first batch of the K62-class mainline diesels (the variant of the M62-type common throughout the former Communist bloc) from the Soviet Union in 1967. Though the Hungarian shunters are mostly gone, apart from a few that have been converted to electric operation, the K62s form the backbone of the North Korean diesel fleet to this day.[1]

Severe floods in the 1990s had taken their toll on North Korea's hydroelectric generation system, and even some mines had flooded - and due to electricity shortages caused by the silting of the dams, there was often little electricity available to run pumps needed to clear the water out of the mines. By the turn of the millenium, the Korean State Railway was having difficulties keeping electric trains running, and the fleet of K62s was insufficient to meet the transportation needs, even though they'd dropped significantly due to ongoing economic difficulties. To alleviate this problem, more M62s from several European countries, along with a sizeable number of second-hand locomotives from China, were imported.[1]

In recent years, extensive work has begun on refurbishing the rail network and power generation capabilities in the country, but diesels continue to play their significant role in hauling passenger and freight trains on the various mainlines.

Diesel Locomotive Classes

Electric Multiple Units

Steam Locomotives

References

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