Monday, December 26, 2011

the Pyongyang Metro, North Korea



Like Stalin in Moscow, the North Koreans decided to spend relatively big money on the decor of the stations of their Metro or Subway system in their capital of Pyongyang. The Pyongyang Metro was opened in 1973 and consists of two public lines, the north-south Chollima (named for a mythical flying horse, the Korean Pegasus) and the east-west Hyoksin (Renovation); there are also believed to be other undisclosed lines for government use.

The total length of the public system is probably around 22.5 km, of which the Chollima line is about 12 km and the Hyoksin line about 10; all up there are 17 stations. These two photos are of the Puhung Station on the  Chollima Line and if those trains look like old Berlin U-Bahn ones, they are: in 1998 North Korea bought 108 of the D (“Dora”) trains (216 vehicles) from Berlin, built in West Berlin by the companies DWM (Deutsche Waggon- und Maschinenfabriken Berlin) and O&K (Orenstein und Koppel) between 1957 and 1965, and withdrawn from service on 25 September 1999 in favor of new H models.  Much more on the unofficial website

No comments: