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京義線
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Gyeonguiseon
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Kyŏngŭisŏn
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The is one of the oldest railway lines in
Korea . When the line opened in
1906 , it connected
Seoul in what is now
South Korea to
P'yŏngyang and
Sinŭiju in what is now
North Korea . At Seoul, the line connected with the
Gyeongbu Line to
Busan , while at Sinŭiju, the line connected with the
South Manchuria Railway , linking the Korean railway system to the rest of
Asia and
Europe .
After the
Division Of Korea in
1945 , trains stopped operating between the north and south halves of the country, meaning that southern trains probably terminated at
Kaesŏng , which is now in North Korea but was at the time part of the
US -administered southern zone. Northern trains would have terminated north of Kaesŏng.
After the end of the
Korean War in
1953 , southern trains were cut back to around Munsan (north of Seoul), with northern trains terminating at Kaesŏng. Around the same time, North Korea renamed the P'yŏngyang-Kaesŏng section of the line as the
P'yŏngbu (yang + '''Pu'''san) Line and the P'yŏngyang-Sinŭiju section as the
P'yŏngŭi (yang + Sin'''ŭi'''ju) Line. The DPRK sector is now 100% electrifed, although the double track section spans only from
Pyongyang to
Sunan International Airport .
Since the summit between the two Koreas in
2000 , an effort has slowly been underway to reconnect the Gyeongui Line. Southern passenger service has been extended to Dorasan on the edge of the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and tracks have been built across the DMZ itself. In
October 2004 , the Northern connection from the DMZ to Kaesŏng was finally completed. However, the connection awaits a formal opening, which could arrive at any time.
The Seoul-Dorasan section of the line has frequent passenger service.
