T.T Boy Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 everything ripped from http://www.pyongyangmetro.com The site is worth checking out if your into these kinds of things. Built to link secret underground military facilities, the Pyongyang Metro is nevertheless an important part of the transport infrastructure in the capital of North Korea (officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK). It includes secret government-only lines about which very little is known. Its station architecture is among the most attractive in the world. However, relatively little is known about the Metro outside the country, as few visitors are able to investigate the system. In recent years North Korea’s economic crisis has affected Metro operation, and service has apparently been reduced significantly. Yet in recent years replacement trains have been bought from Germany, and plans still exist to expand the system, particularly in the direction of other military command posts. http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/fra...08/metro06.jpeg http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/fra...sidegisela.jpeg The German Conection... berlin type GI In 1996-1997 the Pyongyang Metro authorities bought 120 former East German GI (“Gisela”) articulated double cars (in other words, 60 vehicles consisting of two joined carriages each) built at Hennigsdorf near Berlin between 1978 and 1982. The German trains have proved to be significantly more reliable than the Chinese models. old german trains http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/fra...bahnatalex.jpeg repainted now running in pyongyang http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/framed/2808/bvg.jpeg http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/fra...08/wismar1.jpeg Above, an initial batch of 80 GI vehicles is loaded onto the ship “Gao Ling” (home port Guangzhou, China), at the Baltic Sea port of Wismar in mid-February 1997. These trains had left Berlin in December 1996; they arrived in Pyongyang on 6 April, and were fully unloaded by 10 April. A second load of 40 trains was loaded onto the “Leping Ling” by 23 March, and expected in Pyongyang three weeks later. Six more vehicles were sent to Wismar as spare-parts donors. http://www.pyongyang-metro.com/cgi-bin/fra...08/wismar2.jpeg The picture above shows the loading of a first shipment of 36 D trains that took place in Wismar from 26-31 March 1999 using the ship “Alter Ego” (home port: Limassol, Cyprus), which sailed for Pyongyang via the Arctic. Now it gets interesting... When I visited the system, the guides insisted that the trains were Korean-built. The train number is not carried over from Berlin, the livery is radically changed, and from what I could tell, every indication that the vehicles were not manufactured in North Korea has been removed (although traces can be seen of the BVG emblem, between the driver and first passenger doors). Needless to say, all the graffiti and scratched windows had disappeared. This, however, was what happened only to the trains shown to visitors. BBC journalist Richard Lister, in a 28 October 2000 article, reports the following: There is an antiquated public transport system with rattling electric trolley buses and, I discovered, a metro, with old East German trains complete with their original German graffiti. Subsequent visitor photographs show only a very few trains, such as numbers 860 and 865. Presumably only these vehicles have been repainted, for the purpose of “showcase” visits. LINK Several journalists who were in Pyongyang for the meeting between Kim Jong Il and Madeleine Albright, and were able to walk around without their North Korean guides, reported finding the Metro system out of service and deserted; the trains were still covered in German graffiti. secret government lines Documents passed to Changchun Car Company, which built the original subway cars, indicate that Pyongyang has a substantial secret metro system for government use, similar to the one in Moscow, probably built at the same time as the two public lines. Construction details of the secret lines are unknown, but defector reports corroborate large-scale tunnel and underground construction in the city. At least one undocumented tunnel from Mansudae Palace to the airport north of the city is thought to exist, and may house a Metro line. The extent of the secret system can be guessed by the number of trains purchased from Changchun, more than twice the minimum number needed to run the public Metro system. Even allowing for spares, and extra capacity for more frequent service, the indications point to a system that may be larger than the two lines known to exist. http://www.pyongyangmetro.com So, are there still german panels running in north korea? I cant even fathom painting a train in berlin and have it get to north korea the most paranoid nation on earth and have it run. and whos gonna try and paint the secret lines? i tried to rehost the images, but they dont seem to be working to well. just click the links. hopefully it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frate_Raper Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Thats very odd and cool........I think I have that djdan flick on my old pc some where ahahahah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casensitive4 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 i cant see shit and im too stubborn to register or whatever.. but i love asians.. LET ME SEE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_b0b Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 That is mental. I would never have imagined there being runners in North Korea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schnitzel Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 That is one cool ass article and site! the ineternet really does dredge up some interesting things! Those writers gotta be stoked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringfellow Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 yeah thats mad, korea is one fucked up place, bolloks to ever painting there ud be shot on sight. i wonder if its on the banos list of systems?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 ...me no see... ...same same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermdog Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 I sense a closure very soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringfellow Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 edit* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locofanclub Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Someone you know vaugely has painted there!! Originally posted by b0b@Feb 18 2005, 11:21 AM That is mental. I would never have imagined there being runners in North Korea. Quoted post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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