Pohang-Samcheok 166.3km Donghae Jungbu Line Railway to Open in January 2025

The Donghae Jungbu Line, connecting Pohang in Gyeongbuk and Samcheok in Gangwon Province, will open in January 2025. This year, 186.6 billion KRW is being invested in the second phase of the project from Yeongdeok to Samcheok, aiming for completion by December 2024.

The Donghae Jungbu Line is a single-track non-electrified railway project spanning 166.3 km from Pohang in Gyeongbuk to Samcheok in Gangwon Province. The first phase, the Pohang to Yeongdeok section, opened on January 26, 2018, and diesel trains are currently operating.

Donghae Jungbu Line Railway Route

The electrification project of the Donghae Line is also underway simultaneously. This project aims to electrify the entire Donghae Jungbu Line, including the existing Donghae to Samcheok section (6.5 km) and the under-construction section (166.3 km), totaling 172.8 km. Construction began in December 2020, and system and communication works are currently in progress.

Originally, the entire Donghae Line was planned and promoted as a non-electrified railway project, but local lawmakers, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, and city and county governments worked together to achieve electrification. As a result, in 2019, the Donghae Line electrification project (Pohang to Donghae) was selected as a national balanced development project exempt from preliminary feasibility studies. Completion is scheduled for the end of December 2024, and once the entire section from Pohang to Yeongdeok to Samcheok opens, the travel time is expected to be about 54 minutes.

The project implementer, the Korea Rail Network Authority, plans to conduct facility verification tests from June to early September 2024, operational trial runs from mid-September to the end of November, and advisory meetings in December. The Donghae Line electrification project and the Donghae Jungbu Line will be simultaneously opened and operated starting January 2025.

Upon completion in January 2025, railway service for residents of the eastern coastal region of Gyeongbuk will expand significantly, greatly improving accessibility to the East Coast. This is expected to increase tourism and promote regional balanced development along the East Coast.

Park Dong-yeop, Director of the Construction and Urban Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, “We will do our best to secure the budget and ensure that the Donghae Jungbu Line (Pohang to Samcheok), a long-awaited project by local residents, opens in January 2025 without any construction delays.”