The initial section of the mainline, 80.3 km (49.9 mi) from Tansen to Kōkun, was opened on 26 August 1939.

[1] A 10.3 km (6.4 mi) branchline from Kojō (now called Heocheon) to Mantoku was also opened, but the planned continuation from Kōkun to Hōzan was not completed before the fall of Japan at the end of the Pacific War.

Following the partition of Korea, the entirety of the Danpung Railway's network was located in the Soviet zone of occupation.

The Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea nationalised all railways in the northern half of the country on 10 August 1946, and following the establishment of North Korea, the Korean State Railway was created, which renamed the line Hŏch'ŏn Line.

[2] Damage sustained by the line during the Korean War was repaired, but the extension to Pungsan (renamed Kimhyonggwonin 1990) was never built.