The long gap between the Gohan and Hwangji branch lines was plugged on October 16, 1973, when the entire railway from Jecheon to the junction with the Yeongdong Line at Baeksan was renamed the Taebaek Line. The centerpiece of the last section was the long Jeongam Tunnel, which was the longest in South Korea before the opening of longer tunnels on the Jeolla Line and the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway, and Chujeon Station at the eastern end of the tunnel is the one on the highest altitude in South Korea at above the sea.