Gyeongin Line

The railway line from Seoul to Incheon is called Gyeonginseon ( Seon for " line "). She was the first railway line, which was built in Korea.

History to 1945

Construction phase

The history of this railway line began with the award of a concession on 29 March 1896 the Korean King Gojong to the American businessman James R. Morse, who lived in Yokohama. The concession included a rail track to standard gauge of Chemulpo (modern Incheon ) to Seoul. Construction of the track began about a year after the granting of licenses.

Japanese showed a strong interest in this railroad. A Japanese bank presented on December 1 1897 funds to build throughout the course and received a lien. Even before the completion of the railway line went the Seoul Railway Co. Ltd. Chemulpo. December 31, 1899 a Japanese consortium.

During the construction of the railway line from Seoul to Busan, the route was taken over by the Japanese Seoul - Busan Railway Company on 25 February 1903. Already in 1906 this railway company was acquired by the Japanese government. Thus, the line was owned by the end of the 2nd World War the Japanese National Railways network.

Route

After about 2 years of construction the 32 km long single-track section from Incheon to station Noryangjin could be opened on the banks of the Han River on September 18, 1899. The missing about 10 km from the capital Seoul were built completed by July 1900, with the Han River was crossed by a 600 m long bridge. The route ended in Seoul Seodaemun Station (large west gate ) or at the station near the Namdaemun ( South Gate large ), today's Hauptbahnhof Seoul Station.

After completion of the railway line from Seoul to Busan in 1904, the section from Seoul then belonged to the ones closest to the Yeongdeungpo Station to this main line. The Gyeonginseon starts since that time on that branch.

Operation

In 1901 there were six trains from Seoul to Incheon with a journey time of approximately 105 minutes. The train with a steam locomotive, two passenger cars and a luggage car stopped about eight intermediate stations. After repair work in the years 1906-1908 the travel time could be reduced to 90 minutes. Every two hours, the line was operated by nine trains in 1914.

History from 1945

After the military coup in 1961, the expansion of the railway line was included in the first five-year plan. Starting from Yeongdeungpo Station two more tracks were laid to Dongincheon station in Incheon, which were opened in 1965.

The railway line, which now belongs to the Seoul Subway Line 1, was electrified as one of the first lines in South Korea with 25 kV/60 Hz AC traction current.

Swell

  • Preyer -Elberfeld, Dr. in Archives of Railways, S.402 -418, S.720 -743: The railways in Korea. Publisher of Julius Springer, 1914
  • Andrei Lankov: The Dawn of Modern Korea. Publisher EunHaeng Namu, Seoul 2007 (English )
  • Gertrud Claussen (ed.): Foreign Homeland Korea. Simon & Magiera Verlag, Munich 1983
  • Angus Hamilton: Korea. The land of the morning. Publisher of Otto spamer, Leipzig 1904
  • Korean Tourist Board: Guide Korea. 2007/2008

Notes / References

  • 1435 mm
  • Korean history
Bucheon Gyeongin Expressway Gojong of the Korean Empire Seodaemun District
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