Haecheol

Haesan Railway Corporation

해산철도공사
Headquarters of Haecheol at Jinyun Station
Abbreviation	CHL
Formation	March 11, 1973 (1973-03-11)
Founder	Henri Lagarde
Founded at	Hwagang, Haesan
Merger of	Anmi & Central Railway, Compagnie Ferroviaire du Golfe, Promethean & Southern Railway, Southwestern Railway
Type	Government controlled public corporation
Headquarters	Jinyun, Sinhan
Services	Rail transport
Revenue (2022)	$13.7 billion
Staff (2022)	84,921
Website	haecheol.co.hn

Haecheol (Haean: 해철), short for Haesan Cheoldo Gongsa (Haean: 해산철도공사) or Haesan Railway Corporation is a publicly traded corporation which is the national railway operator in Haesan. The corporation operates over 90% of high speed railway service and accounts for 70% of inter-city rail traffic in Haesan. The largest stakeholder is the national government at 51% managed by the Ministry of Transportation, but the corporation has largely operated as a public-private partnership since its inception. The largest non-government shareholder is Suri Heavy Industry, which owns a 22% stake and provides most of the rolling stock for the company.

Haecheol mainly operates inter-city and regional railroads, but also handles freight traffic through much of Haesan, co-operates the Hanyeong Maglev of the Suyang Metropolitan Subway with the government of Suyang, and helps facilitate international connections when geopolitical circumstances allow.

History

Haecheol was founded by the Railway Modernization Act in 1973 by the Lagarde government, shortly after Haesan's reinstatement. One of the goals of the Maximusian provisional government was to restore transportation, including rail access, across Haesan, but in 1973, while regional connections were live little national coordination existed. The aim of the act was to create a corporation which would subsume the renovated assets of the four largest pre-war regional rail services, the Anmi & Central Railway, Compagnie Ferroviaire du Golfe, Promethean & Southern Railway, and Southwestern Railway, all of which had many assets seized by the Daryans in the Great War or were financially ruined as a result. Those assets were placed under the national supervision of Haecheol, and were designated to be supervised by a public/private board of logistics experts, engineers, and industry professionals to fully rebuild the rail network and ensure functional railway service for all cities in Haesan.

In the mid 1980s, as Haesan transitioned to democracy and reconstruction had nearly completed, Haecheol's focus shifted to providing speed and convenience to consumers, and started developing high speed rail routes. In 1991, the first of these, the Trans-Haesan Express (THX) opened to positive reviews from consumers and contractors on the project. The domestically produced Suri H120 train hit 278 km/h (173 mph), then in the top three in the IDU at the time and seen as a major victory for Haesanite engineering. In 1998, the Southern Express Line first opened, funded in large part by Maximusian investments. The last major branch of the ultra-high speed components of Haecheol's railway is the Central Valley Express (CVX), opened in 2008 with significant Xiomeran backing.

The inaugural train of the Meridian Line; opened in 2021, it is the most recent extension of Haecheol's high speed network

Haecheol's original headquarters were located within the Department of Transportation in Hwagang along with a major depot in Nageunho-gu, Suyang. In 1990, the headquarters moved to Nageunho full time. In 2021, new offices and laboratories for the company opened near the rail hub of Jinyun, Sinhan, in the Suyang metropolitan area.

While Haecheol is a railway corporation, it also has a large engineering base, and has often tried to the limits of speed throughout its history. The THX has undergone multiple waves of renovations, and the Suri H510 trains currently operating on it reach 424 km/h (263 mph), still one of top 10 fastest speeds of a passenger rail line and fast enough to connect Haesan's two largest cities in a little over two hours. More experimental is the Hanyeong Maglev opened in 2015 in partnership with the governments of Suyang and Hanyeong. The maglev train, which connects Suyang's Central Station with Suyang-Hanyeong International Airport and downtown Hanyeong, in testing has reached speeds of up to 571 km/h (355 mph), which upon its launch was the fastest passenger train in the world although it no longer holds that record.

Today, Haecheol continues to expand the size of the Haesanite rail network, maintain its world class safety record, while continually updating its current services to provide the most rapid transit possible. Haecheol engineers are currently engaged in a battle with Novellan engineers to maintain the fastest rail speed, and are constantly experimenting to reach ever faster speeds.

Services

Haecheol currently operates X (convert) of rail, X of which is electrified standard gauge railway for high-speed and "super high-speed" railways. Haecheol also operates X of narrow gauge rail for regional passenger and freight traffic.

THX

An "ultra high-speed" train specially designed by Suri HI for the THX

The Trans-Haesan Express, abbreviated to THX, is the signature service of Haecheol, a "super high-speed" express train connecting Suyang and Anfa, Haesan's two largest cities. The original line, which opened in 1991, cut as close to a straight line as possible through the Maehwa Mountains after leaving Suyang Central Station, stopping in Seowon, Hyangsan, Jeongseon, and Marchal Station in suburban Anfa before arriving at Gare Central in downtown Anfa. Due to increased demand for north-south connections, the THX expanded in 1997 with a route that connected Hyangsan to Apseong and Sanri before connecting back with the main line at Marchal. In 2001, the THX added a spur to Levesque, and began offering high-speed service from Suyang to Levesque as well.

The THX has undergone a series of upgrades since its inception, with its most recent round of improvements concluding in 2018. The THX currently spans 728.6 km (453 mi) of high speed track across 6 provinces.

SEL

The Southern Express Line (SEL) was Haesan's second high speed rail connection, originally connecting Sinju to Gyeongseong via Seoyeon, Suyang Coastal Station, Munseong, and Anmi. In 2002, a spur from Anmi to Jeonyu was added, followed by the Yeocheon Connector in 2006. The route currently encompasses 720.6 km (448 mi) of track across 5 provinces. The SEL's expansion was largely funded by investments from Maximusian corporate interests and financiers, who lost much of their investment after the Monetary Crisis of 2004.

International routes

Haecheol also has managed or co-sponsored various international routes in the last few decades. Most notably is the extension of the Gulf Coast Line to Kanjishima City, Lao Sansong, a line which was active as recently as April 2023. Due to the emergence of cells of the eco-terrorist group Warriors of Our Earth in Sansongian territory, the Sansongian government took drastic action and ultimately closed its borders. In response, the Haesanite government stopped all passenger traffic to Lao Sansong as a precautionary measure, and the route is suspended until relations are restored between the two nations. Additionally, Haecheol has historically jointly operated routes to destinations in Soeyan and Laeral with Laeralian rail companies, but no such route has operated since 2005 due to poor political relations and security risks in Soeyan.

List of high-speed routes

Haecheol high-speed routes, colors correspond to color of route boxes

Line	Section	Length		Opened	Operating speed
		km	mi		kph	mph
Trans-Haesan Express	Suyang – Hyangsan	60.4	37.5	August 4, 1991	424	263
	Hyangsan – Marchal (via Jeongseon)	195.4	121.4	August 4, 1991
	Hyangsan – Maehwa (via Sanri)	240.0	149.1	December 18, 1997	385	239
	Maehwa – Marchal	78.1	48.5	December 18, 1997
	Maehwa – Levesque (Levesque Spur)	112.6	70.0	April 21, 2001
	Marchal – Anfa	42.1	26.2	August 4, 1991	424	263
Southern Express Line	Sinju – Munseong	114.3	71.0	November 16, 1998	385	239
	Munseong – Anmi (direct)	103.9	64.6	November 16, 1998
	Munseong – Anmi (Yeocheon Connector)	158.3	98.4	August 8, 2006
	Anmi – Gyeongseong	208.1	129.3	November 16, 1998
	Anmi – Jeonyu	136.0	84.5	February 27, 2002
Central Valley Express	Anmi – Anfa (via Hwagang)	382.7	237.8	June 1, 2008	361	224
Gulf Coast Line	Junyeol – Ibyeon/Ikuzaka	658.2	409.0	March 24, 2004	320	199
	Ibyeon/Ikuzaka – Kanjishima, LSS	170.5	105.9	September 20, 2007	198	123
Northern Connector	Anfa – Moreau	207.4	128.9	December 6, 2001	320	199
	Moreau – Hwayeon, SN	50.3	31.3	June 23, 2003	150	93
Eastern Line	Namju – Sokhae	594.4	369.3	May 28, 2013	285	177
Sinhan Line	Hanyeong – Yeonsan	183.7	114.1	July 3, 2002	320	199
	Yeonsan – St. Clair, LRL	58.2	36.2	July 3, 2002	198	123
Plains Line	Sanri – Gyeongseong	292.4	181.7	March 17, 2014	320	199
Northern Line	Hwagang – Sokhae	417.0	259.1	April 19, 2019	285	177
Meridian Line	Sinju – Gyeongseong (via Hyangsan, Imae)	371.5	230.8	October 30, 2021	361	224
Suyang Connector Lines	Suyang – Imae	170.8	106.1	April 6, 2009	285	177
	Suyang – Hoseon	82.3	51.1	January 31, 2012	248	154
	Suyang – Yeonsan (via Jinyun)	144.9	90.0	March 29, 2014
	Suyang – Daegyo (via Munseong)	71.5	44.4	September 4, 2018
	Suyang – Haseon	132.7	82.5	August 23, 2016
	Haseon – Sanri	68.9	42.8	August 23, 2016
	Haseon – Jisunsan	57.5	35.7	August 23, 2016
Hanyeong Maglev	Suyang – Hanyeong	26.7	16.6	June 2, 2015	571	355

In culture

Haecheol featured prominently in state-sponsored music productions during the second Lagarde administration in the 1970s. The rail company was seen as an important symbol of both modernization and reconstruction of the nation after the war, and the rail company was seen as a source of national pride. More recently, Haecheol featured prominently in a 2017 romantic drama series entitled Conducting Love, which documents the trials and tribulations of a group of colleagues working on the THX. The drama was critically acclaimed with wide viewership domestically and even garnered a small international following.