Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works
Several Red Flag class locomotives in various stages of completion, c. 1989
|
|
|
Native name
|
김종태 전기기관차 련합기업소 |
|---|---|
|
Romanized name
|
Kim Chong-t'ae Chŏn'gi Kigwanch'a Ryŏnhap Kiŏpso |
| State-owned company | |
| Industry | Railway |
| Founded | 10 November 1945 |
| Headquarters | Sŏsŏng-guyŏk, P'yŏngyang, North Korea |
|
Area served
|
North Korea |
| Products | Electric and Diesel locomotives, subway trains and trams. |
The Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works in P'yŏngyang is North Korea's largest manufacturer of railway equipment. Established in November 1945 in Sŏsŏng-guyŏk, P'yŏngyang near the P'yŏngyang Railway University and the Korean State Railway's West P'yŏngyang Station, the factory manufactures and overhauls electric and diesel locomotives, passenger cars, streetcars and subway trainsets. It is subordinate to the DPRK Ministry of Railways.
Initially established as a repair facility for rolling stock during the Japanese occupation of Korea, becoming the state-owned West P'yŏngyang Railway Factory on 10 November 1945. In 1960, the facility repaired 210 steam locomotives, 1,800 freight cars and 120 passenger cars. It was expanded with Polish assistance in the late 1950s to manufacture electric locomotives as well, with work on the manufacturing facility completed on 29 August 1959. In 1961 it was renamed P'yŏngyang Electric Locomotive Works, and the first electric locomotive manufactured in North Korea was built at this factory in 1961, and the plant was awarded a medal following a visit by Kim Il-sung. Kim Il-sung paid another visit to the factory on 27 September 1987, to inspect the first completed production unit of the Red Flag 6-class articulated 8-axle electric locomotive.
Following the execution of South Korean revolutionary activist Kim Chong-t'ae, a member of the Revolutionary Party for Reunification, the factory was renamed in his honour in 1969.
As the only plant in North Korea capable of manufacturing electric and diesel locomotives. the history of the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works is intricately tied into the history of diesel and electric motive power in North Korea.
From 1961 the plant had the capacity to build 30 new electric locomotives per year in addition to the repair and construction of passenger cars. At present, the facility covers 400,000 m2 (4,300,000 sq ft), of which construction facilities cover 130,000 m2 (1,400,000 sq ft) divided into 15 workshops. The company employs 5000 people. It is capable of handling 100-110 electric locomotives per year, of which 30-50 can be of new construction; the biggest single-year output was 60 new units.
...
Wikipedia