The Jungang line was opened along its full length between Cheongnyangni and Gyeongju on April 1, 1942.
Jungang means "central" in Korean, and describes the line's route through the mountains in the east-central part of South Korea. When Korea was
under Japanese rule, the line was briefly known as the
Gyeonggyeong Line, referring to a line running between Seoul and Gyeongju. On 1 December 1938 'Donghae Jungbu line' (
Daegu–Haksan) was divided into three parts:
Daegu Line, the Gyeongygeong line and Donghae Jungbu line, which was later merged into the
Donghae Nambu Line. At the same time the Gyeonggyeong line was extended to the Ubo station. The southern part, Gyeonggyeong Nambu Line, was opened as follows: On the other hand, the northern part, Gyeonggyeong Bukpu Line, was constructed as follows: On 1 April 1942, the two lines were merged into the Gyeonggyeong Line with the opening of the section Jechon–Yeongju (62.3 km). The name of the line was changed back to its present name after the end of
World War II. Following the 1961 coup, the
Supreme Council for National Reconstruction started South Korea's
first five-year plan, which included a construction program to complete the railway network and foster economic growth. As part of the program, in the outskirts of Seoul, a long avoiding line was built from
Mangu to
Seongbuk on the
Gyeongwon Line, called the
Mangu Line, which opened on December 30, 1963. The 29.0 km long extension to Danseong followed on December 30, 1987, finally the 35.0 km long extension to Yeongju on December 23, 1988.
Phase 1: Cheongnyangni–Deokso The double-tracking of the 18.0 km long section from the terminus Cheongnyangni to
Deokso was completed first on December 16, 2005.
Phase 2: Deokso-Wonju The first 5.7 km to
Paldang was opened on December 27, 2007, to enable a line speed of 150 km/h.
Phase 3: Wonju–Jecheon electrified double-track line project The Wonju–Jecheon electrified double-track line project was launched in 2011, connecting Seowonju station at Wonju and Bongyang station at Jecheon. Between Seowonju and Bongyang, the double-track line was to run in a new alignment, most of which would be the 25,080 metre long Musil Tunnel. Works on the tunnel was slated to commence in June 2011, for a planned start of service on the Wonju-Jecheon section in January 2021. Under the government's 2010 strategic plan for 2020, the new alignment in the Wonju–Bongyang section was to be laid out for 250 km/h, the rest to Jecheon was to be upgraded for 230 km/h. Later, the plan was redesigned to build two tunnels instead of single long tunnel, to improve safety. On June 22, 2020, construction was completed and Korean National Railway(KR) started trial running. Commercial running started on January 5, 2021. Plans for the double-tracking of the section from Bongyang, the terminus of the Chungbuk Line, to Jecheon, have been prepared separately.
Phase 4: Dodam–Yeongcheon Jecheon–Dodam section The Jecheon–Dodam section was double-tracked. The rebuilt section is 17.4 km in length, was built with a budget of 320.024 billion won, and is primarily intended to improve capacity for freight transports to a cement factory. The project was completed on 31 March 2011.
Dodam–Andong section The reconstruction of the Dodam–Andong section as an electrified double-track line started in December 2013. The section includes the realignment of the Danyang–Yeongju section, which opened as a single-track section on 13 December 2020. The Yeongju–Danchon section, another re-alignment, opened as single-track on 17 December 2020. The electrified and double-tracked Dodam–Danyang section opened on 5 January 2021, the second track on the Danyang–Yeongju section opened on 30 June 2022, finally the second track on the Yeongju–Danchon section and the electrified and double-tracked Danchon–Andong section opened on 28 July 2022. Operation of the entire section at the maximum line speed started only in December 2023.
Andong–Yeongcheon section This section was originally planned to open in the summer 2022 as electrified single-track line, prepared for later double-tracking. In December 2021, the decision was made to complete the section as a double-track line, with opening planned in Late 2024. Construction started in December 2022 and completed on 20 December 2024. After 23 years, the whole Jungang Line became fully double-tracked and electrified.
Phase 5: Yeongcheon–Singyeongju Electrification and doubling in this section were completed on December 28, 2021. ==Services==