and the last section finally opened in 1955. The scenic Yeongam Line included 55 bridges and 33 tunnels: Following the 1961 coup, the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction started South Korea's first five-year plan, which included a construction program to complete the railway network, to foster economic growth. The Gangwon Bukbu Line, a railway along the eastern coast from Mukho to Gyeongpo-dong in Gangneung, the endpoint of a narrow-gauge railway to Sokcho, was opened until 1962 as follows: This line was also called the Donghae Bukbu Line with view to a planned connection with the existing line by the same name further north. On May 17, 1963, the Yeongam, Cheoram and Gangwon Bukbu Lines were integrated into a single line from Yeongju to Gangneung under the present name as the Yeongdong Line. Meanwhile, from August 1961, the Hwangji switchback section was built to bypass the cable-hauled section between Simpo-ri and Tong-ri stations, which opened on May 30, 1963. A number of branches were built from the line, among them the long Hwangji Branchline from Baeksan to Hwangji (today Taebaek), which opened on December 20, 1962, and was integrated into the Taebaek Line in 1973. After the closure of the Gangneung–Gyeongpo-dong section on March 1, 1979, the total length of the line reduced from to . Upgrade Electrification reached the line from the Taebaek Line, when the catenary on the 85.5 km long section from Gohan on the Taebaek Line via junction station Baeksan to Donghae went into service on December 5, 1975. On March 28, 1997, the 87.0 km long section from the junction to Yeongju followed, and electrification was completed with the 45.1 km long Donghae–Gangneung section on September 8, 2005. The steep descent from Dongbaeksan to Dogye contains switchbacks, which hinder smooth traffic. In addition, a 1996 investigation found that the section is endangered by soil subsistence and the ageing of tunnels. To solve these problems, Korail built a new alignment between the two stations with a budget of 510.322 billion won. The main part of the section is the Solan Tunnel, which includes a spiral. The tunnel was opened on 27 June 2012. At the time of thawing relations between South and North Korea, when the cross-border section of the Donghae Bukbu Line was reopened in 2007, the South Korean government considered the construction of a railway for freight traffic all along the east coast to the