The Korean State Railway operates a wide variety of electric, diesel and steam locomotives, along with a variety of electric multiple unit passenger trains.
The KSR's motive power has been obtained from various sources.
Much, mostly steam and Japanese-made electric locomotives, was left over after the end of the colonial era, and this motive power moved the majority of trains between the time of the partition of Korea and the beginning of the Korean War.
On 10 December 1947, Kukch'ŏl had 786 locomotives - 617 standard gauge (141 tank locomotives, 476 tender locomotives), 158 narrow gauge locomotives, eight electric locomotives (standard gauge), and three steam cranes; there were also, as of September 1945, 747 passenger cars, 6,928 freight cars and 29 powered railcars in the North - all of these had been inherited from the Chosen Government Railway and the various privately owned railways in colonial Korea.

The Korean War destroyed much of the North's railway infrastructure, but with extensive Soviet and Chinese aid, along with aid from the rest of the Eastern Bloc - mostly in the form of steam locomotives from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania, North Korea's railways were rapidly rebuilt.
During the Ch'ŏllima Movement, North Korea's equivalent to China's Great Leap Forward, Kim Il-sung placed a special emphasis on the electrification of the railways.
As a result of this emphasis, many hundreds of kilometres of railway were electrified by the end of the 1950s.

Another important aspect of the Ch'ŏllima Movement was the further industrialisation of North Korea.
In terms of industry, the Japanese legacy was a fairly extensive network of railways connecting steel mills, chemical plants and other heavy industries with the many mines of the north - coal, iron, and many other metal and non-metal resources; all of these were further expanded during the 1950s.
In 1945, a rolling stock repair facility in P'yŏngyang, eventually becoming today's Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works, which has manufactured almost all of North Korea's electric locomotives since the first Red Flag 1-class locomotive, North Korea's first domestically produced electric locomotive, was rolled out in 1961.

With ample coal supplies to fire steam locomotives, and electrification of the rail network being expanded rapidly after the Korean War, dieselisation was not the priority for Kukch'ŏl that it was for many other railways, not starting in earnest until the second half of the 1960s with the arrival of the first diesel locomotives from Hungary and the Soviet Union.
Once there, though, they have consistently shared the burden with electric and steam locomotives, taking over the latter's share of work on non-electrified lines gradually.
Though still in sporadic use, steam had mostly left the North Korean mainlines by the end of the 1970s, and elsewhere by the end of the 1990s.

Severe floods in the 1990s had taken their toll on North Korea's hydroelectric generation system, and even some mines had flooded - and due to electricity shortages caused by the silting of the dams, there was often little electricity available to run pumps needed to clear the water out of the mines.
By the turn of the millennium, Kukch'ŏl was having difficulties keeping electric trains running, and the fleet of K62s was insufficient to meet the transportation needs, even though demand had been reduced significantly due to ongoing economic difficulties.
To alleviate this problem, more M62s from several European countries, along with a sizeable number of second-hand locomotives from China, were imported.
At the same time, however, the economic crisis also made it difficult to obtain diesel fuel, and by the late 1990s rail traffic was barely plodding along.

In recent years, extensive work has begun on refurbishing the rail network and power generation capabilities in the country, but diesels continue to play their significant role in hauling passenger and freight trains on the various mainlines, and Kim Jong-un has been placing special emphasis on the refurbishment and moder
The Korean State Railway operates a wide variety of electric, diesel and steam locomotives, along with a variety of electric multiple unit passenger trains. The KSR's motive power has been obtained from various sources. Much, mostly steam and Japanese-made electric locomotives, was left over after the end of the colonial era, and this motive power moved the majority of trains between the time of the partition of Korea and the beginning of the Korean War. On 10 December 1947, Kukch'ŏl had 786 locomotives - 617 standard gauge (141 tank locomotives, 476 tender locomotives), 158 narrow gauge locomotives, eight electric locomotives (standard gauge), and three steam cranes; there were also, as of September 1945, 747 passenger cars, 6,928 freight cars and 29 powered railcars in the North - all of these had been inherited from the Chosen Government Railway and the various privately owned railways in colonial Korea.
The Korean War destroyed much of the North's railway infrastructure, but with extensive Soviet and Chinese aid, along with aid from the rest of the Eastern Bloc - mostly in the form of steam locomotives from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania, North Korea's railways were rapidly rebuilt. During the Ch'ŏllima Movement, North Korea's equivalent to China's Great Leap Forward, Kim Il-sung placed a special emphasis on the electrification of the railways. As a result of this emphasis, many hundreds of kilometres of railway were electrified by the end of the 1950s.
Another important aspect of the Ch'ŏllima Movement was the further industrialisation of North Korea. In terms of industry, the Japanese legacy was a fairly extensive network of railways connecting steel mills, chemical plants and other heavy industries with the many mines of the north - coal, iron, and many other metal and non-metal resources; all of these were further expanded during the 1950s. In 1945, a rolling stock repair facility in P'yŏngyang, eventually becoming today's Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works, which has manufactured almost all of North Korea's electric locomotives since the first Red Flag 1-class locomotive, North Korea's first domestically produced electric locomotive, was rolled out in 1961.
With ample coal supplies to fire steam locomotives, and electrification of the rail network being expanded rapidly after the Korean War, dieselisation was not the priority for Kukch'ŏl that it was for many other railways, not starting in earnest until the second half of the 1960s with the arrival of the first diesel locomotives from Hungary and the Soviet Union. Once there, though, they have consistently shared the burden with electric and steam locomotives, taking over the latter's share of work on non-electrified lines gradually. Though still in sporadic use, steam had mostly left the North Korean mainlines by the end of the 1970s, and elsewhere by the end of the 1990s.
Severe floods in the 1990s had taken their toll on North Korea's hydroelectric generation system, and even some mines had flooded - and due to electricity shortages caused by the silting of the dams, there was often little electricity available to run pumps needed to clear the water out of the mines. By the turn of the millennium, Kukch'ŏl was having difficulties keeping electric trains running, and the fleet of K62s was insufficient to meet the transportation needs, even though demand had been reduced significantly due to ongoing economic difficulties. To alleviate this problem, more M62s from several European countries, along with a sizeable number of second-hand locomotives from China, were imported. At the same time, however, the economic crisis also made it difficult to obtain diesel fuel, and by the late 1990s rail traffic was barely plodding along.
In recent years, extensive work has begun on refurbishing the rail network and power generation capabilities in the country, but diesels continue to play their significant role in hauling passenger and freight trains on the various mainlines, and Kim Jong-un has been placing special emphasis on the refurbishment and moder
Korean State Railway