Making South Korea 5th Nation to Have High-Speed Train System


By Byun Duk-kun
Staff Reporter

The nation’s new high-speed railroad service, the Korea Train Express (KTX), began service on Thursday, launching Korea into a new era of high-speed railway travel.

KTX No. 74, a 5:05 a.m. departure from Pusan for Seoul, promptly left the Pusan Station, making Korea the fifth nation in the world to have a high-speed railroad system, following France, Germany, Japan and Spain.

``I felt very honored to have safely driven the first train on this historical day,’’ Yang Se-woo, crew chief of the first operating KTX train, said after arriving at Seoul Station.

``Besides its comfortable ride, due to less noise and less dangers of derailment as well as its safety feature which automatically detects any obstacles on the railway, the best thing about the (high-speed) train is that it is fast,’’ Yang said.

The new high-speed train service cuts travel time between Seoul and Pusan by more than one and a half hours to 2 hours and 40 minutes from the previous 4 hours and 10 minutes.

KTX trains are also able to dash more than 407 kilometers from Seoul to Mokpo in less than three hours, down 1 hour and 44 minutes from the current 4 hours and 42 minutes needed for the trip.

With a reduction in travel time between Seoul-Pusan and Seoul-Mokpo routes, more trains are now able to operate, also enlarging their seating capacity by more than 230 percent from 43,000 to over 150,000 passengers a day.

Passengers were excited to take part in Korea’s opening event, marking its first day in the world of high-speed travel.

``I was very excited and pleased to be one of the first passengers on the first (KTX) train,’’ Kim Il-man, a 44-year-old worker from Pusan, was quoted after arriving at Seoul Station on the first KTX train. ``I felt as though the country’s economy would also run like a high-speed train after hearing the first whistle of the KTX,’’ he added.

The Korea National Railroad also hopes to see great improvements in the nation’s economy with the beginning of the new service.

The state-run railroad authority expects the new railroad service would save more than 1.85 trillion won ($1.54 billion) per annum in the nation’s logistical costs by increasing the cargo capacity of trains by more than four times.

A total of 47 KTX trains have been allocated for the Kyongbu, Seoul-Pusan, route to make a total of 94 daily trips while another 17 trains have been placed on the Honam, Seoul-Mokpo, route to make 34 daily trips.

For more information and reservation, visit their Web sites, www.barota.com or www.ktx.korail.go.kr.

benjamine@koreatimes.co.kr