Chosen Railway

The Chosen Railway Company (Japanese: 朝鮮鉄道株式会社, Chōsen Tetsudō Kabushiki Kaisha; Korean: 조선철도주식회사, Joseon Cheoldo Jusikhoesa), was a privately owned railway company in Japanese-occupied Korea.

The Chosen Railway was established on 1 September 1923 through the merger of six companies:

It was the largest privately owned company on the Korean Peninsula at the time. To distinguish it from the Chosen Government Railway, which was abbreviated 鮮鉄 (Sentetsu; 선철, Seoncheol), the Chosen Railway was abbreviated 朝鉄 (Chōtetsu; 조철, Jocheol).

In terms of rail network and regional extent, it was the largest private railway in Korea at the time. The Gyeongdong and Gyeongbuk Lines were eventually nationalised by the Chosen Government Railway, while other lines were sold to other private railways.

The Chosen Railway bought and absorbed the Sinhŭng Railway on 22 April 1938, thus acquiring the narrow-gauge Hamnam, Songheung, Namheung and Jangjin lines.

The narrow-gauge Suryeo Line, originally opened on 1 December 1931 by the Chosen Gyeongdong Railway Co. Ltd., was bought by the Chosen Railway on 16 October 1942.

At the end of the Second World War, all lines still owned by the Chosen Railway were nationalised; the lines in South Korea became part of the Korean National Railroad on 17 May 1946, and those in North Korea became part of the Korean State Railway.

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