Subway of Pyongyang

General presentation

The building work of the Métro of Pyongyang (평양지하철) started in 1968, on the initiative of Kim Jong-il (김정일) which had visited the Métro of Beijing (北京地铁) during a displacement in China in 1966.

The North Korea was the fourth nation of Asia to have inaugurated a subway, after the Japan, Israel and the China, but before the South Korea.

Inaugurated the September 6th 1973, the subway of Pyongyang counts 2 lines: a line North-South, called Chollima (천리마선), and East-West, Hyoksin (혁신선) or Restoration, and 17 stations. The current network reached 23 km after having been wide in 1978 and 1987. The creation of new lines is in project.

The logo represents the Korean syllable tchi (지), which indicates the ground or the ground in the made up words. In Korean, subway says tchi-ha-tc' hol indeed (지하철): literally, the “railroad ( tc' hol ) under ( ha ) the ground ( tchi )”.

Built deeply in basement (with a few 120 meters under ground), the subway of Pyongyang is characterized by a neat architecture rich in marble and monumental bronzes, composed of more than 100 vast mural frescos whose style, which points out the Métro of Moscow (МосковскийМетрополитен), and emphasizes the achievements of Korean socialism. The names of the stations are enlightened. The subway appears in the program of the guided visits of Pyongyang like representative of art and architecture North-Korean.

But it is difficult to know what the subway apart from the two stations accessible to the Western tourists resembles. It was reported that the restrictions in electricity or the power cuts prevented the network from functioning during several consecutive hours, leaving the travellers wedged inside the oars, in a total darkness. Other witnesses affirmed that the subway was started only for the tourists, and closed the remainder of time.

According to the official data, the frequency of the oars would reach 2 minutes in peak period. The service would start with 5:30 and would be completed with 23:30. The stations all would be air-conditioned. The lines should be prolonged in the future.

The stations of the subway can be used as shelters in the event of air military attack.

List stations

Line Chollima (North-South)

  • Pulgunbyol (red Star)
  • Jonu (Comrade) - correspondence
  • Kaeson (triumphal Return)
  • Tongil (Reunification)
  • Sungni (Victoire)
  • Ponghwa (Traffic light)
  • Yonggwang (Glory)
  • Puhung (Rehabilitation)

Hyoksin line (East-West)

  • Rakwon (Paradise)
  • Kwangmyong (Light), closed
  • Samhung (Three origins, namely the three objectives of education: knowledge, morals and the sport)
  • Jonsung (Triumph) - correspondence
  • Hyoksin (Restoration)
  • Konsol (Construction)
  • Hwanggumbol (gold Fields)
  • Konguk (Foundation of the nation)
  • Kwangbok (Restoration)

External bonds

  • Site on the subway of Pyongyang

Random links:Saint-Saturnin (Puy-de-Dôme) | Richard Burns | Christmas of Tissot | Jean Perrault | Lash (géorgien) | Opération_quotidienne