Binbei Railway
The Dongjiang Bridge over the Songhua River on the Binbei Railway.
Overview
Native name	滨北铁路 (Bīnběi Tiělù)
Status	Operational
Owner	Huhai Railway (1928–1933) Haike Railway (1932–1933) Manchukuo National Railway (1933–1945) China Changchun Railway (1945–1955) China Railway (since 1955)
Locale	Heilongjiang Province
Termini	Harbin Bei'an
Stations	17
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail
History
Opened	15 December 1928 (Songpu–Hailun) 1 December 1932 (Hailun–Bei'an)
Technical
Line length	333 km (207 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Labin Railway Binsui Railway 0 Harbin East Jingha Railway Binzhou Railway Jiangnan service stop Songhua River Jiangbei service stop 13 New Songpu North Songpu Closed 22 Xujia Hulan River 32 Hulan Majia Closed 47 Shenjia 59 Kangjinjing 72 Shirencheng 85 Baikuibao 97 Xinglongzhen 108 Wanfatun Nihe 125 Suihua Suijia Railway 138 Shayuan 143 Qinjia Hulan River Nuomin River 157 Sifangtai 173 Zhangweitun 184 Xinquan Closed 195 Suileng Keyinhe Closed Keyin River 215 East Bianjing 227 Hailun Zhaojia Closed 242 Zhayinhe 254 Haibei Tongken River 269 Tongbei 277 Yangjia 290 Lijia 306 Zhaoguang Fu'an Closed 333 Bei'an Qibei Railway Beihei Railway

Harbin-Bei'an railway, named the Binbei Railway (simplified Chinese: 滨北铁路; traditional Chinese: 濱北鐵路; pinyin: Bīnběi Tiělù), is a 333 km (207 mi) double-tracked arterial railroad in Northeast China between Harbin and Bei'an. At Harbin the line connects to the Jingha Railway, the Binzhou Railway, and the Binsui Railway, whilst at Suihua it connects to the Suijia Railway and at Bei'an it connects to the Qibei Railway and the Beihei Railway.

History

The Harbin–Bei'an railway started out as two separate railway lines built by two privately owned railway companies, the Huhai Railway and the Haike Railway.^[1]

The Huhai Railway was the first self-funded privately owned railway company in Heilongjiang. It began surveying a line from Songpu to Hailun in September 1925, opening the 227 km (141 mi) line on 15 December 1928. In 1929, the railway's wooden bridge was replaced with a permanent iron bridge.^[1] Work on the Haike Railway's line from Hailun to Bei'an began in June 1932, and was opened to traffic on a temporary basis in 1 December of the same year.^[1]

In 1933, after the creation of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, both companies were nationalised by the Manchukuo National Railway, and the two companies' lines were merged to create a single line, called the Binbei Line (Hinboku Line in Japanese). The Manchukuo National continued construction of the Hailun–Bei'an section, replacing the temporary bridges with permanent ones. The line was finally completed in 1935.^[1]

In August 1945, the Soviet Army invaded Manchukuo, taking over management of all railways in the former Manchukuo, creating the China Changchun Railway; the Binbei Line was put under the jurisdiction of the Qiqihar Railway Bureau.^[1] The Soviets transferred control of the China Changchun Railway to China in 1955, at which time this line became part of the China Railway system. In 1957, the line was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Harbin Railway Bureau, and double-tracking of the 125 km (78 mi) Sankeshu–Suihua section of the line was completed.^[1] Double-tracking of the rest of the line was completed in 1962.

Route

References