The original Gyeongchun Line was opened along its full length of between Kwangwoon University on the Gyeongwon Line to Chuncheon by the privately ownedGyeongchun Railway on 20 July 1939. Chuncheon was the most popular destination for students on orientation trips, bringing passengers to the line. Following the Liberation of Korea, all railways, including the Gyeongchun Railway, were nationalised.
Upgrade
The line was upgraded into an electrified and double-tracked line for. Between Geumgok and Chuncheon, from 1997 until 2010, the line was re-laid in a straighter, 64.2 km long alignment with a budget of 2.151,931 billion won. The remaining 17.9 km of the upgraded line was built with a separate budget of 574.124 billion won. Towards Seoul, after Toegyewon Station, this section of the new line diverges from the old alignment that ended in Seongbuk, and connects to the Jungang Line at Mangu Station. The new alignment was originally planned to be opened in 2004, but completion of the works was delayed for various reasons, including lack of funds. The complete new alignment opened and the old one closed on December 21, 2010. On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Gyeongchun Line is to be further upgraded for 230 km/h and may see KTX service. For the longer term, the government also considers to build a parallel high-speed line that would continue beyond Chuncheon to Sokcho on South Korea's east coast. On November 4, 2016, two trains were added to the line. These trains run to and from Kwangwoon University Station, allowing for transfers to Line 1. On September 26, 2016, the line was extended to Cheongnyangni Station to improve access to regional trains at the station. However, only 10 trains in each direction travel past Sangbong Station; the majority of the trains still terminate at Sangbong Station, and the two special rush-hour trains still run to and from Kwangwoon University Station.
Services
When the new Gyeongchun Line opened on December 21, 2010, passenger service was integrated into the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system, bringing that system from Seoul all the way into Gangwon-do. The new service reduced travel time between Chuncheon and Sangbong in Seoul from two hours to 89 minutes, with different trains operating according to different stopping patterns; and increased capacity five-fold. Compared to the previous Mugunghwa-ho train service on the Gyeongchun Line, fares dropped by half. For the service, Hyundai Rotem supplied Korail with fifteen eight-car Class 361000EMU trains, out of which only thirteen trains remain in service on the line today, and one train pending re-entry into service. On February 28, 2012, Korail introduced ITX service, which uses Class 368000 trains with double-deck cars. From Chuncheon Station, the fastest ITX trains take 52 minutes to Cheongnyangni Station, and 68 minutes to Yongsan Station in Seoul, operating at a maximum speed of. The base fare is 9800 won between Chuncheon and Yongsan, currently it has a 30% discount. The express service was phased out along with the advent of the ITX service, but was brought back in early 2017.
Stations
Current Services
Main Line
The following stations are along the Gyeongui-Jungang Line and the Gyeongchun Line itself. The negative sign is only a convention for distance notation from Sangbong Station, the terminus of most services.
