Major construction efforts on the railroad from Hyesan to Samjiyon, Ryanggang Province, began in 2015. Recent reports suggest that project has now been completed, with trains running on the tracks. Sources in North Korea report that residents are welcoming the new railway, not so much due to the convenience in travel it will bring, but because they have been released from the financial burden of supporting the project and being mobilized for its construction.
“There was a trial run held on June 16 following the end of the Samjiyon railway project. Residents of Samjiyon, Hyesan, and Ryanggang Province as a whole are happy that the trial run took place,” said a Daily NK source in Ryanggang Province on June 28.
“Most residents are welcoming the end of the construction of the railway because there may not be any more need to pay for materials for the railway. Even children are happy to hear of the end of the construction.”
He added, “What was once a narrow-gauge railway has now become a broad-gauge one and people consider that to be an improvement in the rail system. They are also breathing a sigh of relief that the construction is over because it took a great many lives.”
According to a separate source in Ryanggang Province, residents are expressing their sadness over workers who were killed during the construction of the railway.
“People are saying they are happy the construction is over due to the sense of regret they have for those who were killed while working on it,” she said.
Daily NK previously reported on the deaths of workers who were mobilized to construct the railway in an environment with little concern for safety. Reports from sources inside North Korea suggest that at least 26 people died during the construction of the railway, largely from dynamite blasts and falling rocks.
The North Korean authorities have failed not only to compensate families of the victims, but have also refused to conduct funerals for those killed. Local residents are calling the railway the result of the “blood and tears of the people.”
The railway has not yet officially opened for regular train travel. “The train used in the trial run was recently built in the Kim Jong Tae Electric Train Factory,” the second source explained.
“Trains are not running on the tracks at regular intervals yet, but people here expect that to happen soon.”
