[1] Jungang means "central" in Korean, and describes the line's route through the mountains in the east-central part of South Korea.

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 and foster economic growth.

[7] On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020.

Between Seowonju and Bongyang, the double-track line was to run in a new alignment, most of which would be the 25,080 metre long Musil Tunnel.

[6][11] Works on the tunnel was slated to commence in June 2011, for a planned start of service on the Wonju-Jecheon section in January 2021.

Under the government's 2010 strategic plan for 2020, the new alignment in the Wonju–Bongyang section was to be laid out for 250 km/h, the rest to Jecheon was to be upgraded for 230 km/h.

[8] The new alignment was to reduce line distance by 5.5 km and was to cut travel time by 20 minutes.

On June 22, 2020, construction was completed and Korean National Railway(KR) started trial running.

Plans for the double-tracking of the section from Bongyang, the terminus of the Chungbuk Line, to Jecheon, have been prepared separately.

[15][16] The rebuilt section is 17.4 km in length, was built with a budget of 320.024 billion won, and is primarily intended to improve capacity for freight transports to a cement factory.

This section was originally planned to open in the summer 2022 as electrified single-track line, prepared for later double-tracking.

In December 2021, the decision was made to complete the section as a double-track line, with opening planned in Late 2024.

Some trains continue to Bujeon station in Busan, with a total travel time of 8 hours by day and 20 minutes shorter by night.