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| Kang Yeong-il, CEO of the Korea Rail Network Authority, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony to restore a section of the disconnected Gyeongwon (Seoul-Wonsan) Line at Baengmagoji Station in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-sik
The Korea Rail Network Authority (KR), the state-run railway builder and maintenance manager, is set to restore a section of a disconnected inter-Korean railroad near the Demilitarized Zone, a project that will ultimately lead to connecting the country's railways with those of China and Russia.
The company held a groundbreaking ceremony at Baengmagoji Station in Cheolwon, Gangwon Province, Wednesday, to reconnect the Gyeongwon Line (Seoul-Wonsan) between Baengmagoji Station and Woljeongri Station. The section to be restored spans 9.3 kilometers.
Woljeongri Station is the nation's northernmost train station in Cheolwon, north of the civilian control line. The construction, which will begin in October, will be completed by the end of 2017, KR said.
The 224-kilometers Gyeongwon Line, which opened in August 1914, served as a vital railway connecting Seoul and eastern port city of Wonsan in South Hamgyeong Province. But the division of the Korean Peninsula cut the line in half in 1945 and the railway was largely damaged during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The government first restored the railway between Yongsan and Sintanri Station. In 2012, the 5.6-kilometer section between Sintanri and Baengmagoji was reconnected.
"After restoring the section between Baengmagoji and Woljeongri, we will try to restore railways northward to train stations in the Demilitarized Zone and in North Korea," a KR official said. "We will contact North Korean authorities to discuss the joint railroad restoration project. We will provide the North with materials and equipment if it is willing to rebuild the Gyeongwon Line."
The restoration scheme is to lay the groundwork for unification and to realize President Park Geun-hye's vision for a united Eurasia, the official said.
"Once we restore the Gyeongwon Line, we will then seek to connect it with those of Russia and China. If realized, we will be able to travel or transport goods to Central Asia and Europe via railways. This Eurasia railway will significantly benefit the two Koreas and other involved countries."
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