This line traverses a very mountainous area; it has a ruling grade of 33‰ and a minimum curve radius of 250 metres. There are 74 bridges totalling and 24 tunnels with a total length of. The average distance between stations is. Service facilities on the line are at Hyesan for locomotives and at Wiyŏn and Paeg'am for rolling stock.
History
In order to exploit the Paektusan region's abundant forest and mineral resources, the Yanggang Forest Development Railway planned construction of a line, dubbed Hambuk Line, running from Kilju to Hyesanjin via Hapsu, along with a branch from Hapsu to Komusan, already at the beginning of the 1920s. The Yanggang Forest Development Railway was one of six privately ownedrailway companies that merged to create the Chosen Railway on 1 September 1923, but work on the planned line was not started before the Chosen Government Railway took over the project. Sentetsu finally began construction of the line inMay 1931, with the first section, from Kilju to Hapsu, being opened on 1 November 1933. The line was then extended several times over the following four years: from Hapsu to Paegam was opened on 1 August 1934 and from Paegam to Pongduri on 1 September 1935, and the final from Pongduri to Hyesanjin was completed on 1 November 1937. Originally called the Kilhye Line, the line received its present name in 1978, when electrification of the line was completed in September of that year. The planned Komusan–Musan section, using the Hambuk Line name, was finally opened in 1937 by the North Chosen Colonial Railway, whilst the section between Musan and the Kilhye Line was finally completed as a narrow gauge railway by Sentetsu on 1 December 1944. When the Pukbunaeryuk Line was completed to Hyesan in 1988, a northern east-west connection was finally established connecting the Manp'o Line at Manp'o Ch'ŏngnyŏn to the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line. On 9 October 2006 an underground nuclear test was conducted at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in Kilju County, causing the closure of the line for 3-4 months after the Paegam tunnel, near Paegam Ch'ŏngnyŏn station, collapsed.
Services
Freight
Ore and forest products account for almost 93% of freight traffic in the direction towards Kilju, while almost half of the freight in the direction towards Hyesan is coal. Ore is shipped from Namgye, talc, kaolin and magnesite from Simp'o-ri, and iron sulphide from Unhŭng. Logs are brought from the Paengmu Line to Paegam and forwarded to a large sawmill at Wiyŏn; raw logs are also shipped to the pulp mill and plywood factory in Kilju. The majority of freight moved on the line in the direction towards Hyesan is coal from Sinmyŏngch'ŏn on the P'yŏngra Line destined for use by residents and power plants in the region, along with grains, anthracite, fertiliser, cement etc. for local use.
Passenger
Passenger traffic on the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn line is significant, with much of that traffic being for visitors to the various "historic sites of the Revolution" in the region. There are also trains for local travellers, including connection to trains on the Samjiyŏn Line. The following passenger trains are known to operate on this line:
Express trains 3/4, operating between West P'yŏngyang and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run along this line along its entirety between Kilju and Hyesan;
Semi-express trains 101/102 operate between Kilju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Hyesan;
Semi-express trains 104-107/108-111, operating between Haeju Ch'ŏngnyŏn and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn, run along the entirety of this line between Kilju and Hyesan;
