Today Kim Jong il’s trains and train stations were big news. According to the Choson Ilbo:
When Kim travels, three separate trains operate in conjunction. The advance train handles security checks to see whether the rail tracks are safe. Behind Kim’s train is another carrying his bodyguards and other support personnel. Kim’s train travels at an average speed of 60 km/h. Around 100 security agents are sent ahead of time to stations and sweep the area for bombs. Before Kim’s train nears the station, the power on other tracks is shut off so that no other trains can move.
Kim’s train is armored and also contains conference rooms, an audience chamber and bedrooms. Satellite phone connections and flat screen TVs have been installed so that the North Korean leader can be briefed and issue orders.
Sources say when Kim gets out of his train and moves to his private retreat, he is driven in a Mercedes or other car that has been brought along. When Kim travels within North Korea aboard his private train, IL-76 air force transport planes, MI-17 helicopters and other aircraft provide security support and haul necessary personnel and equipment to nearby airports. So far, Kim has taken 129 on-the-spot guidance trips around North Korea, matching the record he set in 2005 and probably exceeding it by the end of the year.
Since I have already mapped out the North Korean railway system, I can offer links to satellite images of many of KJI’s personal train stations and other elite stations: Pyongyang (Ryongsong), Pyongyang (Ryongsong underground), Pyongyang (Ryongsong-original), Pyongyang (Hyongjesan), Wonsan, Sinuiju, Hyesan 1, Hyesan 2, Kanggye, Yongphung-ri, Myohyangsan 1, Myohangsan 2, Sakju 1(old imagery), Taegwon, Kyongsong 1, Kyongsong 2, Hungnam 1, Hungnam 2, and Sinchon. These are not necessarily the 20 stations cited in the above article, but the remainder are probably underground or not visible with Google Earth imagery.
