By Lisa Hanson
Contributing Writer

The Korea National Railroad on Tuesday held a ceremony to mark the opening of the new high-speed bullet train service.

More than 1,800 people and top government officials including acting President Goh Kun and the Minister of Construction and transportation Kang Dong-suk gathered in front of Seoul Station to celebrate the opening of the Korea Train Express (KTX).

``I hope the opening of the Kyongbu high-speed railway will be a moment for the country to move toward a new South Korea and an era of per capital GDP (gross domestic product) of $20,000,’’ Goh said in a congratulatory address. ``The high-speed railroad is a symbol of the national competitiveness and the economic prosperity we will achieve in the 21st century,’’ Goh said.

The train is expected to spur revolutionary changes of speed in the ways South Koreans live and travel, he added.

KTX trains will make 128 trips along two routes, the Kyongbu and the Honam lines. The Kyongbu will run from Seoul to Pusan, and the Honam will travel from Seoul to Mokpo. They are projected to transport more than 100,000 daily passengers.

The bullet train reduces travel time from Seoul to Pusan from four hours and 10 minutes to two hours and 40 minutes and spans 3,129 kilometers along the peninsula.

It is based on the French model Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) and other types of high-speed trains that also have been used by Spain, Germany and Japan to shorten travel over long stretches of terrain and to lessen traffic congestion.

Chong Yong-chul, the director general of the high-speed rail project at Korea National Railroad (KORAIL), recently took one of the trial rides. In Korea, the bullet train will irrevocably change people’s domestic traveling habits, he said.

``Sixty percent of domestic airline passengers (20,000 people) may be moving to KTX, and there are three reasons for this,’’ Chong said. ``We are faster than the airlines, every airport is located in the outskirts of the city, but our station is at the center of Seoul. The third reason is safety. The train is safer than an airplane.’’

A ride from Seoul to Pusan on the bullet train is also cheaper. A one-way ticket to Pusan from Seoul on Asiana Airlines is between 59,000 and 62,000 won. The same trip on the bullet train costs 45,000 won.

On March 19-22, though, trial ride tickets were free of charge for the public, and Yoo Seong-eun, a student at the Information and Communication University in Taejon, maximized on the deal. Yoo took the bullet train twice. ``I really wanted to experience the high-speed train. The drawing power is different. The traditional train uses oil, and this one uses electrical power,’’ Yoo said, emphasizing that fuel emissions would help preserve the nation’s environment.

Officials tout the bullet train as energy efficient, estimating that the train saves the operation of 33,000 cars and 8,000 buses per day and its capacity is comparable to four new expressways constructed between Seoul and Pusan. Authorities also say it will not only reduce fuel emissions; it will also diminish the amount spent on logistics distribution, which KORAIL officials project cost the country 100 trillion won a year, about 16 percent of Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to Kim Se-ho, chief of KORAIL.

Forty-six KTX trainsets will go into operation; each will have 20 cars that together will seat up to 935 people. If travelers beeline to KTX as KORAIL officials suggest, the number of train passengers will climb to 500,000 to 600,000 from the present 180,000.

Hong Seung-ki, a student who took one of the free trial rides at the end of the month, said he would be among those regularly traveling aboard the bullet train from Seoul to Taejon. For him, a KTX car almost serves as a library. ``It is very convenient for studying,’’ Hong said, pulling up the tray table attached to the back of the seat in front of him. ``It is much better than the previous trains, where it is much more difficult to write.’’

The subdued atmosphere is a result of KTX’s air suspension system, which KORAIL director Park Kwang-soo says is even better than other TGV models. A computer-controlled air flap maintains the air pressure inside each car, reducing the amount of ear popping passengers may feel as they shuttle through tunnels and over hills.

KTX will operate on two lines. The Honam line will start in Seoul and will make five stops before reaching Mokpo in the south, while the Kyongbu line will make four stops before arriving at Pusan.

The construction of the bullet train did not come without obstacles. It was delayed by partisan wrangling in 1993 when some politicians pledged to cancel the project and was slowed again after some questioned whether it could maneuver the nation’s tunnels and bridges. After WJE, a U.S.-based safety consultancy, assessed the project, construction resumed in the late 1990s.

The second leg of construction of the Kyongbu line is in the works, and officials project travel from Seoul to Pusan will be further reduced to one hour and 56 minutes by 2010. KORAIL’s director Chong also said the company has plans to link up with Trans-China Rail and Trans-Siberia Rail. That is, if South and North Korea are connected again in the future.

lmhanson@koreatimes.co.kr