Pyongyang Metro System
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Pyongyang, the North Korean Capitol is one of the quietest cities on the planet, due to the near total absence of automobiles. Pyongyang’s public system consists of a light Rail System, Trolley – buses, and two subway lines.
“The subway stations are extremely deep, modeled on the Moscow system. With their triple blast doors, they are designed to be used as bomb shelters. The stations are true showplaces, with art work and rousing names like “Reconstruction” and “Victory.””
Above Paragraph From: Letter from Pyongyang | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
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North Korean SUV?
Photo courtesy Thomas St. John |
European Built Trolley Running on Pyongyang’ Light Rail System |
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Pyongyang’s original trolley system was built under
Japanese occupation, It opened May 20th 1923. Pyongyang’s original tramway closed during the Korean War. Trolley / Light Rail service returned to the city on Kim Il Sung’s 79th birthday in 1991. The system uses a variety of European Cars |
North Korea’s Indigenous (Scratch Built) Trolley-Bus |
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“The bodies of trolley buses were made manually since, apparently, at the
Pyongyang trolley bus factory there were no hydraulic presses large enough. The necessary shaping of sheet metal was achieved by hammering, and thus the surface was covered with dents and holes. Electricity wiring was tacked to trolley bus ceiling were extended directly on the
ceiling while its plywood plates often hung and flapped above passengers’ heads. It should be said, however, that the backward
technologies were partly compensated for by diligent and persistent labor. For example, these badly made trolley buses were kept spotlessly clean”By Andrei Lankov in PYONGYANG AND ITS PEOPLE (NOTES OF A SOVIET STUDENT)Supposedly, for every 50,000 kilometers it travels, a bus in Pyongyang has a red star painted on its side. Some buses are completely covered with red stars (although I don’t see any Red Stars on this one). |
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N.K. Rapid Transit & N. Korean Culture Links
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Web page on The North Korean Rapid Transit and Pyongyang Metro Including Chinese built trains and the German Built D (“Dora”) trains, Changchun Type DK4 and Berlin Type GI Trains
- Map of the North Korean Metro System This is a 1997 map; although the cut-and-paste typography suggests that its origins are much older (elsewhere in the brochure, Kim Jong Il’s title has been changed from “Dear Leader” to “Great Leader” using the same method).
- Trolleys/ Trams/ Light Rail of Pyongyang Metro
- North Korean European Built Trolley Bus Page
- Pyongyang’s original trolley System – This system was built under Japanese occupation, It opened 20 May 1923
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Photos of the pyongyang metro
- Rail Fan Trip to North Korea
– No Joke!!
- The official Guidebook to the Pyongyang Subway
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| Propaganda Posters Recently Released by The North Korean Central News Agency (below) |
Other North Korea Related Links
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Unlike other Asian countries, North Korea eschewed bicycles for decades. Only recently have they been allowed, and only now are they
beginning to become a major mode of transportation. Most people walk or wait for public transit. above paraphrased from:
Letter from Pyongyang | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |
- North Korean (PDRK) License Plates – How to read em’
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North Korean Rapid Transit Page & Propaganda Posters from the North Korean Central News Agency 