Korean State Railway EXPLAINED | North Korea's Railway Network
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ย. 2020
- The DPRK's Railway Network encompasses over 4700km of track crisscrossing the northern half of the Korean peninsula. Many of the lines were originally built by the Japanese during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation.
🚂 Social Media
Twitter: @BenWestonDPRK
Instagram: @BenWestonDPRK
🎵 Music
www.bensound.com
I occasionally think about remaking this video. I think it's clear my animation skills have improved since 2020, and it really is an interesting topic.
gotta ask where did you find information on such topic as trains of dprk? and if you could it would be wonderful if you would give bibliography to each vid maybe someone will be curious to dig themselves and maybe contact you what they did find out
@@Alastor1868 For most of the videos, all the information is out in the public domain scattered around in a million places, so it's a case of researching and bringing it all together - although for some of the videos the information comes from friends and colleagues in the DPRK so harder to credit directly.
@@DPRKExplained that's completely reasonable and alright, I mean, it was just a suggestion, nothing else but yeah I understand. Oh......and I wanted to thank you both for responding and for great videos you make really good job and I am even far more curious about DPRK because of you
@@Alastor1868 No worries! Notification just caught my eye. Almost midnight here in Mongolia and I'm working on the next video so, I'm in the right headspace haha
@@DPRKExplained heh Poland here and it's just 4:22 pm
Is it totally oddly satisfying to anybody else when previously dead end lines connect up to another line creating an interchange?
I had a pretty unusual experience on the Beijing to Pyongyang train. passing over the border river and stoping at the border station I was eager to visit so I gave my passport to my friends and told them to point out my luggage and stepped of the train and went for a walk on the station. After a while some of my friends told me the officials was looking for me and I see this man in uniform coming marching towards me with a very stone like face, I decided to do he same and marched to meet him, when we meet he gave me my passport and a big smile! That was my first impression of N.K.
Nice story!
That's should be called: "A NK stand off." Honoring the famous "Mexican Stand off."
That's really cool! What a wonderful story!
To think that such casual behaviour towards border officials really shows an immense amount of white privilege and how strong the passport of your country is.
@@JovanNoviSad Not to be afraid of border officials is what ? A privilege ?
@@JovanNoviSad poorer countries on average have better relations with NK
I'm amazed about two things:
1. The Japanese built so much rail in a land that wasn't even theirs, that they might be forced to give up one day, and
2. North Korea has a much better rail network than my state of Australia. Seriously, we have some metropolitan rail in the capital city, and just two train lines, one of which only travels about 250km before terminating, and neither are electrified. North Korea's rail network shits all over ours.
Fellow Aussie and I'm Guessing you live in WA?
thats why i love japan
We take it for granted how much information is available on the internet. Very interesting.
This is an other one of those railway nerd channels that I'm going to binge and then watch explode to 100k and beyond
I hope so, although think I've hit the end of the road on DPRK railway stuff 😁
@@DPRKExplained the end of the tracks you mean?
i really respect your ability to cover such a controversial country completely objectively without obvious bias.
Not really controversial when everyone hates it
@@vetabeta9890 We're talking about Korea, not the United States.
@@pikajew3578 both are well hated?
@CageyBee...I agree 100%! The entire video I was thinking exactly what you wrote.
@@vetabeta9890 yeah, i can see all homeless, poor, drug addicts people swarming skid row streets in Korea...
woah this is a cool video! Not much DPRK content out there on just normal things like this. Very cool!
日本為朝鮮付出了很很多。
The fact that my country has limited train line compared to north korea is just pathetic.
Fantastic documentary Ben! This entire country’s isolation from the world makes it quite interesting, especially the railway which is mostly electrified if I am not mistaken.
Most of the trunk lines are electrified I believe. There was a big push in the second half of the 20th century to electrify the main lines - the only lines that remain unelectrified are the smaller logistical lines
But only government officials can use it, from what I've heard...
@@iamthestig1 not sure where you heard that - I’ve been on the Pyongui Line from Sinuiju to Pyongyang and foreigners can also take the train up to Rajin - the rest of the lines are the primary mode of transport for locals between cities
@@DPRKExplained I want to know about North Korea. Can you give me your phone number
@@DPRKExplained this comment just got you a new sub. Thanks for actually being honest. I'm so curious about places like NK but it's so hard to find anything that isn't riddled with Western propaganda
The step up in quality of audio and video editing between this and the last video is extremely impressive. This new format and quality shows in your views. Nice work mate.
This is fascinating. I had no idea that NK had such an extensive rail network.
@@ridinwithjake Yep, it's not like you as a citizen of the DPRK can randomly decide to embark on a cross-country trip on your day off. Even if you DO travel, pray that if you're on an electrified line, the electricity does not cut out because then the train might get stranded in the middle of nowhere.
@@vuurniacsquarewave5091 source?
@@americancommunist6076hungry and jealousy😂😂😂
@@GoLiveJeez Hahaha lols the DPRK has a better transport system then the US, their are thousands of video just showing the DPRK and its trains, showing passengers go back and forth to call them not being used doesn't make sense because if they are not being used then what are they just their for aesthetics?, if your going to use them for aesthetics and propaganda might as well make them functional instead of wasting time, money and resource into such an extensive railway network that majority of foreigners won't even see since they are in the rural areas or just ignore.
Wow this is amazing, you deserve more subscribers, can’t believe you have under 1,000 subscribers
Not anymore thanks to people like you. Thank you! :D
@@DPRKExplained I'm so into the "NK mystery:" how one Xtra Poor nation has managed to nurture strong allies while keeping the Western world "under siege" with nothing more than agricultural products to maintain it's intl. trade.
I any case! I got here through NKs travel videos. And I loved your stuff.
Any chance you could talk NKs train fleet and it's ACTUAL service? It seems to me they don't use their railroad infrastructure as much, no funds?
@@900108Chale They actually run regular services on all their lines - although I don't have access to that info
@@DPRKExplained Hey TX!
massive improvement from the 2019's upload. Looking forward to see more coming :D :D
I was really glad to get suggested this channel!
Fascinating stuff, thanks for posting.
I'm from Vietnam and, although people often compare my country with North Korea to show what to do or not to do to stay alive and thrive as a communist regime after the Cold War, watching this video made me realize even the destitute North Korea's railway system is so much more developed than our own. Sad.
Còn thua lào luôn ấy chứ chả cần phải so sánh xa xôi :))
Đường sắt nước mình phải nói tệ kinh khủng luôn, may mà hệ thống đường ô tô tương đối phát triển, bù lại đường sắt. Nhìn Triều Tiên mà bật ngửa, nước người ta bị cấm vận mà cái hệ thống dày đặc gấp mấy lần nước mình.
You have the Hanoi - Ho Chi Min line that covers the entire country? We went on it and loved it. Also stopped in Hoi An along the way.
@@jayjayn007 That is THE ONLY line in the country. It does not cover any of the highlands in Central and North Vietnam, and the southern Mekong Delta region.
@@vinhkhangtran8405 aw right, fair enough.
Wow this is some amazing research! I really appreciated it, also the mix of documentary video to support the story. I just can't get around how this much information really managed to seep out of this country :) Amazing work!
Amazing work. Thank you.
I see big things coming to this channel... Just know that the algorithm has given you it's blessing
I appreciate the objective tone but saying the Japanese invested in infrastructure in Korea is like saying Britain invested heavily into infrastructure in Ghana. Technically correct but it's an omission of information. I would just worry that you are laundering things by being so objective.
Well researched and I greatly enjoyed it.
you deserve more subs and likes and views, that video is something people with 2 mil subs will make, but you still did it!
Hahaha, cheers!
The algorithm brought me here and I’m glad it did, this is amazing!
Really interesting stuff !
Thanks! Excellent presentation!
Excellent presentation. Good information delivered in a concise, but still informative, way. Thanks
👍
Very Informative and Detailed Video with quality footage.
#BenjaminWeston
Great video! Subscribed.
Fantastic video!
Simple & easy to follow, straightforward graphics. Well done.
My thoughts exactly
Superb documentary. Loved it. I know it's hard but I'd love to see more pictures. Is most traffic freight?
thank you for your video
Excelently made video
P'yongui Line's old railway tracts still go into South Korea, albeit unused. You can still see it from space!
They were rebuilt and used in 2000s to take the South Koreans from ROK to Kaesong Industrial Park. But now it's closed.
@@lukdmi835 interesting
japan invasion heirloom 😂😂😂
Thanks for showing real korea,
New sub ❤️
Wow, I've never knew that DPRK has such extensive railway network! Thanks for sharing, what a great presentation. Warm regards from Indonesia
I keep thinking I'm going to see something controversial that will negate the facts of the videos, but it's all facts! How refreshing!
Do we know how much of the network is electrified now? I do remember reading somewhere that NK placed massive emphasis on electrification at the time, so it'd be interesting to see how far this got and if it's still ongoing. Also, I know NK uses standard gauge now - was this always the case or were the Japanese lines built to the metre gauge they used at home?
They are already standard gauge, and there are some 762mm lines too
Japanese railways do not run on metre gauge, they use 1067mm, (3' 6" to anybody still using imperial measures!)
Almost all main lines are electrified with rural lines and mountain lines still using diesel electric locomotives.
But these are also set to be electrified, the DPRK party meeting of 2021 has announced complete electrification of the entire railway network lines by 2026 as part of their rural development plan and complete upgrading of all housing facilities in the entire rural area with new houses for everyone.
And if I remember, they were going to build some more lines further increasing connectivity with the northern most areas and also there was talks about high speed rails being already started building between major cities.
Information is hard to get, this is all I know from watching KCTV.
I heard that the lines have overhead wires but they can't afford the electricity to feed on those lines
All of north korean marxist tracks are from japanese times and still have 762mm narrow gauge in some places.
The Pyongui line and parts of the Pyongbu line are viewed as the Gyeongui line in South Korea. The rest of the Pyongbu line between Seoul and Busan are viewed as the Gyeongbu Line.
Don't you know there is only one railway stop in the whole country and the train keeps going in a loop pushed by passengers who are totally strong enough to do it? Or at least that's what Yeonmi liar Park said.
I like the little detail that the computer at the beginning is running Red Star.
Can you make more about the rolling stock used?
there are still to many dead ends that could be connected but there is a mot more rail lines in North Korea than i would have ever believed existed. IMPRESSIVE!!!
The Japanese may have been oppressive but HEY, at least the trains ran on time! :D
there's a lot of ill will between japan and korea for obvious reasons but when you compare korea, which became the second most industrialized region in asia after japan, to European colonialism of africa, it looks like japanese colonialism left countries better off
@@Timothy.Hutama
British may have left Africa in a dire state but in India they laid the blueprint for the Indian railways, just like Japanese did for Koreans, and in fact most of the administrative system not only in India but Pakistan and Bangladesh is still similar to that of British era.
@@Timothy.Hutama yea. I mean look at Korea and Taiwan
Epic!
Very interesting history lesson.
Korean State Railway logo is basically the same as China Railway
This begs the question, you mention the line from Pyongyang to Seoul now ends at the defacto border (Kaesong), but that it physically extended past the border. Is this still the case, or have they deconstructed that part of the railway?
Nope, that part still exists and links up to Dorasan Station on the southern Gyeongui Line
@@DPRKExplained but does it cross into South Korea? I guess that was my question more specifically
@@dylan_00 The line is still usable, but there are no trains running between the two sides, no.
They have a waaaay better railway network than Norway....
That's a great extension of the railway system.
Groovy stuff
I'm not sure if Gyeongui Line was actually reorganized as Pyongui and Pyongbu Line back in 1945 because North Korea still viewed Seoul as its de jure capital until 1967
Yes, technically the line was split in '48 after the official formation of the DPRK and the nationalisation of the railways
We love railway and traveling with train.
0:43 Good to see you using Red Star OS comrade.
During Japanese occupation, Korea had a very busy railway system, in particular during the 30s when a lot of journeys between Japan and Manchukuo were via Korea, mostly via Seoul and Pyongyang but some via Rajin. After northern China fell to Japan there was even Busan to Seoul to Pyongyang to Dandong / Andong to Beijing express. Always have a nostalgic feel when looking at the destroyed rail bridges at Imjin River and Yalu River.
If Geoff Marshall would be a Comrade, this would be the video he’d make.
I was actually inspired to make this after watching his tube map video
this was interesting
Great content Benjamin! However, the „Happy Apple-Commercial“ Music is totally throwing me off because of it’s presece. I guess a more subtle music would be more fitting for your nice Storytelling. But that’s just my two cents. ;) Keep up the good work!
People in Sinŭiju (north-west) had to go through Seoul to travel to Hoeryŏng (north-east) until 1941? It should have been redundant.
What did you use to make the map and animations of the rail lines and cities connecting?
AfterEffects
Another fascinating educational video! Do you know how the railways constructed during the Japanese era are viewed in the DPRK? Do they acknowledge that they were a result of Japanese colonialism (as perverse as that may sound), or do they try to give credit to KIS for them and just silence inconvenient old people who'd remember otherwise?
That is actually a very interesting topic.
For those who wonder why Kyongui(or spelled as Gyeongui in South Korea) Line is named Kyongui, while the railway from Kyongsong(Gyeongseong) to Wonsan is named Kyongwon Line:
Uiju(의주) was one of the most developed cities in Japanese Korea because the city borders to China and the great continent of Eurasia. Therefore, the Japanese needed to connect the capital(Kyongsong) to Uiju. However, the real estate of Uiju back then was highly priced due to the importance of its location and there was just not enough space for railways in Uiju, as it was densely populated. So the Japanese built a new city next to Uiju, called Shinuiju - literally meaning New Uiju in Korean(신의주) - and formed railways to Shinuiju. However, the name of the railway was still named as Kyongui, meaning a line from 'Kyong'song to 'Ui'ju.
Similar city was developed next to Cheorwon County of Gangwon Province as Sincheorwon(spelled as Shinchorwon in North Korea) - meaning New Cheorwon, which is also my hometown.
Since Korean Peninsula itself is relatively small and densely populated, these kinds of new cities are built even in present days in both North and South Korea. In present South Korea, Osong Station which is a station of Cheongju City, North Chungcheong Province and Gwangjusongjeong Station of Gwangju Metropolitan City were built because of the similar issues of Uiju.
Love your video from South Korea!
I mean, just by the density of the network, it feels like the DPRK has a more comprehensive network than the US
You are right about DPRK for passenger rail service. But America has the largest and most extensive freight rail system in the world.
@dougdouglas3945 doesn't make it good lol our logistics are terrible
I know right
i’m from Britain and our railways are bad and garbage
someone tell yeonmi to stop lying to millions of people and making 6 figures off of it. "north korea has one train, that has 1 destination that travels once a month."
I hope KTX will be extended to Sinuiju and Rajin. Both South Koreans and North Koreans have the right about travel conveniently and freely to anywhere in Korea.
Yes exactly. Too bad we koreans became two nations just because the two countries chose to split us.
When NK has much more trains than us 🤯
Two carriages of the train appeared at the beginning of the video are made in China. In 2000s
China has made some type-25k carriages for DPRK, and it for international transportation.
i would like a rail road trip there
We can do tours of the Pyongra Line from Pyongyang to Rason. From there, it carries on to Moscow - longest passenger line in the world!
If only the Philippines had even a small amount of that railway, lots of potential
Are there any plans for a high speed train in North Korea and if so at what stage are they ?
Would there be enough traffic on any line outside the capital. I presume the leader is more interested in freight traffic than helping passengers get anywhere quickly. I also wonder if some of these lines were to transport the army to any border area quickly. I'd note that is was easier for the Japanese to run new lines when workers were treated as near slaves to move Japanese overlords and their army around...Strange more lines don't link into China at least (like to Shenyang) or is NK afraid of the Chinese having too easy access to NK if it wanted to.
@@stephendoherty8291 Well l mean domestic tourism is highly encouraged and North Korea is building up it´s tourism sector more and more for foreign visitors so it would definetly be worth it considering that installing a high speed line would also enable a general overhaul of the freight lines to 120km/h or even more
@@vidoco196 How many North Koreans can afford holidays. Its not like lots of Chinese or SK tourists visit NK. The state roads are not exactly jammed with car traffic that delay trucks or that airports are so busy that fast trains are needed. If I was NK, I'd copy the Indians and invest in cargo rail connections to China. Then again. NK spends more on its space program than education not to mention the military.
Did South Korea rip up the tracks of the old lines that originally ran from the North to Seoul, or do they run their own services up to the border?
All Japanese mainline tracks will be closed and removed by this December thus dual track electric only with the exception of short and dedicated connection lines or those for which investment cannot be justified. The Gyeongeui line at the national border is still there but the Jejin station at the eastern border is isolated.
Generally, the lines around Seoul have local services to the border. Like 京義 line and 京元 line. 京義 line runs to 文山 or even 臨津江 while 京元 line runs to 漣川. While 東海北部 line is generally out of service.
Do they have any steam on everyday use
don't think so, they built most of their infrastructure in the era of diesel and they modernized to electric a while ago
I think I have seen 2 videos on China steam train that uses the bridge crossing that was mentioned. The Chinese run from their side a steam engine. That if it hasn't been upgraded
What is the main guage of NK railways?
1435 mm like in China. Some railways have 1000 mm but they are closing in time or regauging to 1435.
i love Railway
Lines!
Why not Revised Romanisation? It's Cheongjing, not Ch'ŏngjing.
Revised Romanisation is the standard in the south, but the DPRK uses a system based on McCune-Reischauer.
So, 청진 becomes Chŏngjin
So North Korea was originally called Chosen?
Choson is still the name of the country in the North. It derives from the Choson (Joseon) Dynasty (1392 - 1897)
@@DPRKExplained Thnaks, did not know that,
朝鮮
Japanese: Chōsen
Korean: Joseon 조선
South Korea-Korea, North Korea-Joseon. Two unrelated and independent countries ,now speaking each different languages,
Hongui line - Hasan-Artom line - 700 km Transisiberian line - my home
Не так уж и далеко оказывается КНДР от меня
Владивосток?
@@lukdmi835 как бы Владивосток и Артём неразделимы, я с Хабаровска
@@mayakstudios7292 понял)
Benjamin why North Korea? U plan to go there or have been there?
Worked in DPRK tourism pre-Covid, now working on a few projects for post-pandemic over there
@@DPRKExplained this is extremely interesting, would you be interested in telling something more? I'm sure you have plenty of stories to share
@@DPRKExplained i was wondering how you had so much cultural information on the DPRK
What happens to railway lines south of 38th parallel
That is of course same. Some are from the japanese era that we chose to keep. Some are disconnected like the seoul to uiju line.
You have to check with South Korea for that info. This is DPRK production, I think so
The Japanese really, really know how to utilise the north…
Viva a revolução
i seee.
We always learn that NK is awful and worth basically nothing. But their rail lines seem pretty comparable when comparing it to some other countries’ rail lines. But (if I counted them correctly) the US passenger system only has 48 stops compared to NK which has 47.
The DPRK has hundreds of passenger stops, I made a map of them all years ago, it has quite the extensive railway network
Korea has much better rail than north korea as north korea is crappy marxist-leninist.
@@aabb-zz9uw "tell me you're ignorant without saying you're ignorant"
I wish Thise country could Worning more together
What?
어?
Informative - if you're an Ian Allen engine spotter nerd. Videos of actual DPRK rail operations..? Minimal.
Long live great DPR Korea and its marvelous people!
U know what I not going to Pyongyang because I am still land to me it’s Seoul 😒
So japan did some good 🙄☺🤗
Man North Korea be having a better train line connections than the USA… We need to find Brightline and Amtrak!
South Manchuria Railway
♥️☭
They have the rail lines, but because of their electricity supply problems which cause frequent blackouts, a journey that would take couple hours in most places around the world can take weeks. Areas outside of Pyongyang sometimes go for days without electricity, so the trains just remain wherever they are until the power comes back.
😔
North Korea electrified, yet we still can't in the USA.
Long live DPRK and its people!
几乎都是中国的旧车
Hardly a rail network in NK these days. Watch other videos containing train trips by foreign visitors. Never see another station or train and ancient rusted rolling stock lying idle.