Train Stations in Suncheon

There are many things I have not yet done in Korea during my sheltered existence. I have not been to Jeju or Mokpo. I have not been to a 찜질방. And I have never taken a train. I'm sure it's easy enough, and I guess plenty of foreigners do it, but I've just always found taking a bus pretty convenient. The English-language Korail site is a joke, with an incomplete and outdated map and no timetables. The Korean-language site isn't much better, although at least there's an improved way of searching through schedules. Not that it matters much, as foreigners aren't able to buy tickets online, thus defeating the purpose of using an online booking system. Since I would have to physically go to the station to get the tickets, there's no reason for me not to just take a bus.

Anyway, in a small attempt at reducing the disinformation out there about trains and train stations, earlier this fall I edited the "Jeolla Rail" template on Galbijim, and took out nearly twenty stations that are no longer in operation. The template has since been reverted to its unabridged form. Eight of these defunct stations are within the Suncheon city limits. From north to south (between Guryegu Station and Suncheon Station) are:

* Bongdeok Station (봉덕역), in Hwajeong-myeon.
* Goemok Station (괴목역), in Hwajeong-myeon, 1936-1999
* Gaeun Station (개운역), in Seo-myeon
* Dongeun Station (동운역), in Seo-myeon, ?? - 2005
* Seongsan Station (성산역), in Haeryong-myeon, 1952-2005
* Pyeonghwa Station (평화역), 1968-2004
* Dong Suncheon Station (동순천역), 1936-2004

And from the southwest from Beolgyo to Suncheon Station is:

* Guryong Station (구룡역), in Byeolryang-myeon
* Wonchang Station (원창역), in Byeolryang-myeon

The only operational station in town is Suncheon Station, a few blocks from the Intercity Bus Terminal. The station was rebuilt in 1960, and is accessible by just about every local bus in town. According to an artist's rendering inside, it looks like they're building a new one. (There's some construction going on next door, I wonder if that's it). You can see the picture here, if you scroll down. Suncheon Station is, incidentally, a good place to go if you've decided to visit Suncheon without doing your homework. Outside of the station to the left is a Tourist Information Center (관광안내소), where you can get all kinds of maps, brochures, and bus schedules.

Guryegu Station is also in Suncheon, but I don't really consider it "in town" because it's . . . not really in town. It's on the outskirts, across the river from Gurye-eup, Gurye county, north of the old Bongdeok Station.

According to an article from the 경상신문, 15 stations in Jeollanam-do closed in 2005, although I have to doubt the veracity of stuff in the article, as some of the locations are wrong (Yulchon Station, for example, is in Yeosu, not Suncheon, and Yangbo Station isn't in Suncheon, either).

Anyway, there are quite a few websites about train stations, and it's easy to find photos with a Naver search. Kicha.org (기차 as in train) is a good one, and it has a mirror Naver cafe, from whence I stole a bunch of photos for this post. I Love Train is another one. When I do Naver searches for these defunct railway stations, most of the results are from these two sites, or from blogs that borrow the information. Here are a few photos that I turned up, and *goddamnit* since I can't do captions without screwing up the layout of the entire page, I'll tell you now that, from top to bottom, is Seongsan Station, Pyeonghwa Station, Guryong Station, and Gaeun Station.

Visiting and photographing these old stations must be a popular pastime here. I tried to participate, and on the first day of the Chuseok break I visited Yulchon Station in Yeosu. It's old and tiny, and although there were two people working in the office, I don't think passengers use it any longer. Around that time I decided to visit Seongsan Station, as I thought it was within walking distance of my school. If you check the Naver map here, you'll see that it's in the middle of an apartment complex, which is entirely possible if the area was built up after the photo galleries were taken. Only after wandering around for an hour and returning home did my dumb ass follow the railroad tracks on the Naver map and find that Seongsan is further east, in the middle of nowhere.

There are photo galleries available for most of the stations in Suncheon. You can see more pictures of Seongsan Station here and here. One for Dongun Station is here and one for Gaeun Station is here. Two for Bongdeok Station are here and here, and there are two for Pyeonghwa Station, here and here.