Trams and trolleybuses in North Korea
Trams and Trolleybuses in North Korea are forms of public transportation for North Koreans to travel around in urban centres given the shortages on fuel and access to cars for average citizens.
Very few details are known about these trolleybuses and trams due to the closed society of North Korea. Pyongyang and Chongjin are the only cities known to have tramways.
Trams
Fleet Size | Description | Make | Fleet # | Year acquired | Notes |
45 | double-articulated | Czech Republic CKD Tatra KT8D5K units | 1001–1045 | 1990 | |
129 | trams | Czech Republic CKD Tatra T6B5K single motor units | 1046–1174 | 1990s | |
50 | articulated trams | Czech Republic CKD Tatra KT4K units | 1175–1224 | ordered 1991 | articulation removed by Shenfeng works in China; all trams of this type have been moved from Pyongyang to Chongjin |
320 | trams | Czech Republic CKD Tatra T4D/B4D | used trams from Leipzig (200 vehicles), Dresden (95), and Magdeburg (25) | ||
articulated trams | North Korea Kim Chŏng-tae Electric Locomotive Works – modification of ČKD KT4 | 1990s | |||
18 trailers and 18 motor units | two-car married sets, each car having two trucks | Switzerland. Built 1947–1954, powered cars by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) and SWS, matching trailers by SIG, for the Zürich tram system | retired by Zürich in 1994; purchased by North Korea in 1995 | used on a metre gauge line from Samhung metro station to Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang (all other lines are standard gauge) |
Trolleybuses
The Pyongyang trolleybus system has been operating since 1962, with a large fleet serving several routes. Due to the closed nature of North Korea, the existence of trolleybus networks in other North Korean cities was generally unknown outside the country for many years, but it is now known that around 12 to 15 other cities also possess trolleybus systems, among them Chongjin and Nampho.[1] A few other places have private, very small (in some cases only one or two vehicles) systems for transporting workers from a housing area to a nearby coal mine or other industrial site—or at least did at some time within recent years.[1] Trolleybuses include both imported and locally made vehicles. Imported buses are from Europe and copied versions from China. There are a few local manufacturers of trolleybuses.
# | Description | Make | Fleet # | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
trolleybus | Hungary Hungarian Ikarus Bus 260/280 | |||||
trolleybus | Czech Republic Škoda Works | 1950s | ||||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima | |||||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 1/2/9.11 | N/A | 1961 | Late 1980s | ||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 9.25 | 1963 | Only one remains in service. Based on LAZ-695 | |||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 70 | 1970 | Mechanically based on Škoda 706 RTO | |||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 72 | 1972 | ||||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 74 | 1974 | Another version built in 1975 exists. Has narrow doors unlike the original Chollima-74 | |||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 82 | 1982 | ||||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 84 | 1984 | Late 2000s | |||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 862 | 1986 | ||||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 90/903 | 1990 | ||||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chongnyon | 1990 | Designed to work in rural areas, but is used in some cities as well | |||
trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chongnyonjunwi | 1996 | Based on Karosa B 731 bus | |||
trolleybus and articulated | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima | 1997 | Ikarus Bus assembly | |||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Sonyon | 1999 | ||||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 032 | 2003 | Only a few were made | |||
articulated trolleybus | Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chollima 091 | 2009 | ||||
trolleybus | Chongjin Bus Works Jipsam 74 | 1972 | ||||
articulated trolleybus | Chongjin Bus Works Jipsam 86 | 1986 | ||||
trolleybus | Chongjin Bus Works Chongnyonjunwi Chongjin | 2000 | Differs from the PTW Chongnyonjunwi | |||
trolleybus | Wonsan Rolling Stock (Locomotive) Factory Songdowon | Late 1970s |
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Media related to Trams in Pyongyang at Wikimedia Commons
- Media related to Trolleybuses in Pyongyang at Wikimedia Commons