# SOUTH KOREA | High Speed Rail



## tectis (Mar 28, 2003)

*s.korea train express..ktx*

KTX


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## tectis (Mar 28, 2003)

*more pics*


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## Nephasto (Feb 6, 2004)

Can you post a map of the line and also a map of the lines under construction or in project, if there are any?
Nice fotos by the way!


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## babystan03 (Jun 10, 2003)

How long does it take from Busan to Seoul?? 2 hours?? Will the KTX be extended to the Incheon Airport??


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## Nephasto (Feb 6, 2004)

babystan03 said:


> How long does it take from Busan to Seoul?? 2 hours?? Will the KTX be extended to the Incheon Airport??


Also, what's the distance?


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## Cantonese (May 19, 2004)

Very nice!!! Do you have any more pictures?


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## Vertigo (Oct 23, 2002)

Got any more information about the new type of train (the red one)? 

I know the first generation was built by Alstom and derived from the TGV (it also really looks like a TGV). What about those new ones, is that also an Alstom product?


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

babystan03 said:


> How long does it take from Busan to Seoul?? 2 hours?? Will the KTX be extended to the Incheon Airport??


Around 2 hours and 30 min. The speed railway is still u/c in some areas. As for the second question, yes (around 2007)


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

Vertigo said:


> Got any more information about the new type of train (the red one)?
> 
> I know the first generation was built by Alstom and derived from the TGV (it also really looks like a TGV). What about those new ones, is that also an Alstom product?


Korea high-speed train aces trial run 
OSONG, S.K. - Korea has become the fifth country with proven high-speed train production technology, following France, Germany, Italy and Japan, as it has succeeded in a trial of a high-speed train, according to the Chosun Ilbo. 
The train was designed and made only with domestic technology, and ran at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. 

The Korean Rail Road Research Institute and the train maker Rotem on Wednesday completed the trial of the G7 high-speed train, called the "next generation Korean-style high-speed train." The route was from Chonan to Daejon, and onboard were industry and academic figures and public officials. The train was composed of seven cars, four locomotives and three passenger cars. 

By contrast, the high-speed rail service between Seoul and Busan, which will start in April, trains produced with technology transferred from the French train maker Alstom will be used, called KTX (Korean Train Express) trains. 

But for the high-speed rail services opening later, the G7 trains will be used. These G7 trains, faster than the KTX trains, should be commercialized by 2007. The G7 trains will be used for service between Seoul and Jeolla province, which is expected to have fewer passengers during weekdays because the number of cars can be variously adjusted depending on the number of passengers. The number of the KTX cars is fixed at 20, regardless of the number of passengers. 

12:10 p.m. Wednesday: The high-speed train departs from Osong, North Chungcheong province. With a bright gray exterior and red top, it looks sleek. 

Even at the speed of 100 kilometers per hour, there is hardly any noise or vibration. Two or three minutes later, the speed is at 150 kph, and the train glides along as if floating on placid water. At 250 kph, there is a slight movement from side to side and a faint engine noise. 

Then it's 280, 290, 295, 299 kph. Fifty or so passengers - including technicians from the Korean Railroad Research Institute and Rotem and officials from the Ministry of Transportation and the Korean National Railroad - watch the odometer as it climbs to 300 kph. At that moment, Korea became the fifth country in the world to achieve the feat with its own technology, following France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Ten minutes after departing from Osong, we passed Cheoan Asan. People in the car clapped and cheered. 

Song Dal-ho, chief director at the research center, said, "The designed speed is 385 kilometers per hour but the actual speed will be about 350 due to the weight of the passengers. Next year, we will easily pass our final goal of 350 kilometers per hour." The test train, composed of seven cars, is powerful and lightweight and can run up to 440 km per hour, theoretically. 

A slight noise and vibration could be felt at 300 kph per hour. However, the same sensation was felt with the KTX trains, with technology transferred from Alstom. The only thing surprising was the deafening sensation in the ears, somewhat like that when climbing in an airplane. "That is because the doors are not completely sealed - this is a little difficult to do with domestic techniques," said Song Jin, director of the central research lab at Rotem. However, all these factors will be improved by 2007, when the train is expected to be commercialized. By that time, KTX will be an "old model," and a true Korean high-speed railroad will take its place as the "new model." 

Thursday marks the 104th anniversary of the first Korean railroad. We have made a high-speed train with our very own hands. The conventional trains such as the Saemaeul were designed by copying bits of foreign models. 


^^
Domestic technology, will reach up to 350 KM/ph


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

Nephasto said:


> Also, what's the distance?


About 600 KM to Busan (from seoul) and about 500 KM to Gwangju (from seoul)


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

From KTX website (http://ktx.korail.go.kr/)


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

More:


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

More:


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

This is the best map I could post here: (the big one is in micro media)


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## Nephasto (Feb 6, 2004)

Busan - Seoul = 600 km in 2h 30m?! That's very good! An average of 240 km/h!


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## Wisarut (Oct 1, 2003)

Khun Babystan03,

Well, KTX won't be used for Incheon Airport Express though ... ROTEM will 
produce the new rolling stocks for Incheon Airport Express/Transit;... Look at
the Korean Thread and you'll see

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=122055

If you wanna know more abotu Incheon Airport Express, please go here:
http://www.iiarc.com/

BTW, Lok at this rendintion and you'll see:
Airport Express:








Inside Airport Express








Airport Transit:








Inside Airport Transit









Route Map:


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## sequoias (Dec 21, 2004)

Pavv said:


> From KTX website (http://ktx.korail.go.kr/)


Those trains freak me out, they look like birds with red eyes, if u look carefully. *shudders*


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

Wisarut said:


> Khun Babystan03,
> 
> Well, KTX won't be used for Incheon Airport Express though ... ROTEM will
> produce the new rolling stocks for Incheon Airport Express/Transit;... Look at
> ...


Thanks for that.


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## ejd03 (Oct 23, 2003)

Vertigo said:


> Got any more information about the new type of train (the red one)?
> 
> I know the first generation was built by Alstom and derived from the TGV (it also really looks like a TGV). What about those new ones, is that also an Alstom product?


No it's made by Korea.. (red one) 97% of parts are made in Korea and others are from foreign countries..


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## Ellatur (Apr 7, 2004)

[email protected]
ejd03 i haven't seen you in a while!


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## skynet126 (Nov 20, 2004)

These infractructre cost S. Korea like 15 billion dollars, took like 8 years to built, and was designed by the French. Anybody known why it took so long to built these infrastructure. I thought that this kind of transportation was superb!!!


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## PredyGr (Jan 11, 2005)

Pavv said:


> Korea high-speed train aces trial run
> ...
> The train was designed and made only with domestic technology, and ran at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour.
> 
> ...




Could you please explain further what "domestic techology" is .

You mean 2 locomotives , 2 motor trailer cars, and 3 passenger cars. Am I wrong ? I have a Rotem's brochure which says that composition probably for the test train. 

How is it possible to adjust the number of cars? It is articulated and the formation of the whole train is exactly the same as the KTX or TGV . If you have any idea about that I'll be happy to learn it.

Does anybody knows technical specification of this trainset or where I can find ? Like length, weight, seats , power(MW), acceleration, not starting (0-300), gear ratio. 

Thanx in advance.


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## ejd03 (Oct 23, 2003)

http://www.krri.re.kr/krri/news/2004/11/16/2169,22702,0,0,0.html

http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=9055

here is the more informations


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## zergcerebrates (Jan 23, 2004)

skynet126 said:


> These infractructre cost S. Korea like 15 billion dollars, took like 8 years to built, and was designed by the French. Anybody known why it took so long to built these infrastructure. I thought that this kind of transportation was superb!!!



8 yrs isn't that long considering that they're building all new stations for the KTX and new railroads spanning top to bottom of S. Korea. This isn't a house building project a project of this size of course takes time. 15 billion on the other hand doesn't sound much, considering the scale of the project. HKairport alone cost $22 billion.


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

HK airport project had an abnormal cost for the sake of sheer grandeur and complicated geographical factors...I don't think that project can really be compared with anything.


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## tectis (Mar 28, 2003)

*new*


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## ARailSystemsEngineer (Oct 24, 2006)

*KTX Korean High Speed Rail*

Does anyone have any information about this reported derailment?

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006102920053812070.htm

"Derailment Leads to Train Delays
Korea Train Express(KTX) heading to Seoul got derailed early Saturday and some of the passengers on the train failed to arrive on time for a university entrance exam interview. ...

ARSE


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

Wow, I didn't hear about this.


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## Il_Milanese (Jan 31, 2006)

Poor students! It's already hard going to University there  They could have given them another chance


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## degnaw (Jul 4, 2006)

It's almost funny how a train derails and all they talk about are students late for their exam...


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

KTX-II, made by Hyundai-Rotem and based on HSR-350x, will make its debut next year in HONAM-line.

*Specifications*


> Maximum design speed / Trainset : 330km/h / 10cars/trainset
> 
> Dimensions (L x W x H) : 20,100×2,970×3,750 (mm)
> 
> ...


*KTX-II Rollout Ceremony*











































































all photos from here (you can see more photos)


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## asahi (Dec 28, 2007)

The changed design looks so much better. I like it. Nice train


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## elfabyanos (Jun 18, 2006)

Very nice.


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## 2co2co (Apr 8, 2008)

Looks too TGV to me :-S


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## Spam King (May 14, 2008)

why wouldnt they redesign it to make it an EMU? Push-Pull seems to outdated, not to mention EMU would allow for greater capacity because you dont have locomotives at either end.


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## Railfan (Nov 15, 2006)

KTX-II


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## Railfan (Nov 15, 2006)

I don´t see the Phantograph...


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Spam King said:


> why wouldnt they redesign it to make it an EMU? Push-Pull seems to outdated, not to mention EMU would allow for greater capacity because you dont have locomotives at either end.


You are right. It's somehow outdated now but I think it's unavoidable because korea had no exprience to make high-speed train until HSR-350(or KTX-II). But they now made KTX-II and launched new high-speed rain project(HEMU-400x, or Highspeed Electric Multiple Unit-400㎞/h eXperiment) last year. If this project get results korea will get new high-speed train on 2012 or 2013.

*HEMU-400x news*



> The government plans to shell out big bucks to develop bullet trains, which can run at a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per hour, by 2012.
> 
> Science and Technology Minister Kim Woo-sik on Thursday chaired a meeting of science-related ministers to chart the bold scheme on the ultra-fast trains, dubbed the HEMU-400X.
> 
> ...


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## LAZO (Nov 7, 2007)

330km/h, not bad


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## Messi (Nov 18, 2007)

Does that mean the HSR 350X was just a prototype? ROTEM built a plant in Turkey (EUROTEM) in cooperation with the Turkish TUVESAS in order to build highspeed trains for the new highspeed lines in Turkey and we thought that they are going to build the HSR 350X in Turkey. Are there two trains now or is this going to be the only highspeed train in production?That would mean we'll have these babies soon as well. Although HSR 350x was quite sexy this baby is even hotter! :cheers:


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## zergcerebrates (Jan 23, 2004)

*TTX question*

Hey I came across this video of the Korean TTX train is it in service yet? I love the design of this more than the KTX.

Err... I dont know how to embed the video anyways heres the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGw4sSM6zA


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

zergcerebrates said:


> Hey I came across this video of the Korean TTX train is it in service yet? I love the design of this more than the KTX.
> 
> Err... I dont know how to embed the video anyways heres the link:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGw4sSM6zA


TTX is now undergoing test run, now 80,000km tested and going on untill it reachs 100,000km test run. It's not decided yet whether Korail will purchase this or not. Originally it's developed for speeding up conventional railyways which is electrified but now many conventional railways is straighted or schduled to be straighted at the same time when it's electrified and KTX-II will be put on some of the straighted conventional line, so the position and future of TTX is obsure now. If it may be adopted, it will substituate Sae-Ma-Ul class.

TTX images

http://blog.naver.com/knr_7304/60059990390
http://blog.naver.com/knr_7304/60060208671
http://blog.naver.com/knr_7304/60065381112


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HEMU-400 Design 
*
A Webzine by KRRI(Korea Railroad Reserarch Institute) reported the process of HEMU-400 design in details. 

Here're some pictures.










*Above trains were final candidates and 3rd train was selected.
2nd train is duplex type.*











*
Interior*











*Duplex design (not adopted, but as a sample for the future use) *










*
Final Design*


soure


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## riles28 (Jul 10, 2008)

*Good and Magnificent it's time to made it that.*



ruready1000 said:


> *HEMU-400 Design
> *
> A Webzine by KRRI(Korea Railroad Reserarch Institute) reported the process of HEMU-400 design in details.
> 
> ...


Good and Magnificent it's time to made it that so the KTXII will have new once the HEMU 400X so the Korail can't give more comfortable travel for riding public. Very Nice we will look forward for that.


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## Huhu (Jun 5, 2004)

That new design is pretty slick. KTX is awesome, screw the haters!


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## ddes (Oct 17, 2006)

Really love the new HEMU-400 designs although I must admit that the first design looks quite similar to the Fastech 360Z or S (can't remember).


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## riles28 (Jul 10, 2008)

*Very closely in Fastech 360S*



ddes said:


> Really love the new HEMU-400 designs although I must admit that the first design looks quite similar to the Fastech 360Z or S (can't remember).


Very ckosely in Fastech 360S but for Japan they get the nose of fastech 360Z for they latest model the Series E5 hayate.


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## sotavento (May 12, 2005)

Spam King said:


> why wouldnt they redesign it to make it an EMU? Push-Pull seems to outdated, not to mention EMU would allow for greater capacity because you dont have locomotives at either end.


EMU = what ???


Any out-of-depot-not-able-to-uncoupple electric multiple unit is an EMU. hno:


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## Micrav (Feb 19, 2008)

Researches were more interesting than the final design, The double-deck looked really awesome. The last version, single deck looks quite "normal" compared to it. But I know what it takes to reach a final design. Interior looks very interesting.

_And to answer one last time to agaristagari:_
If you would be live in Europe, you would be interested by the TGV saga and its look. External design contributed greatly to its success and you would know also that each operator looks for identity, so before being mad, calm down and read previous threads on this forum. Look is one of the functions of design and only the signature, but it is an important one. Of course, engineering is important too. But nowadays, when all technical parameters, requirement, reach the top, confort, practical and are around similar budgets, how can you choose? Design also works on identity and culture and helps to sell. 

Would you like to ride everyday in an old shaking train or modern practical train that looks like the latest Audi or Honda? Then you understand why people come back to ride trains and trams in Europe and leave more often car at home... It is not only ecology or economics, it is also attractivity. And design definitely helps!  

Back to Korea now!


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## agaristagari (Dec 5, 2008)

Micrav said:


> Researches were more interesting than the final design, The double-deck looked really awesome. The last version, single deck looks quite "normal" compared to it. But I know what it takes to reach a final design. Interior looks very interesting.
> 
> _And to answer one last time to agaristagari:_
> If you would be live in Europe, you would be interested by the TGV saga and its look. External design contributed greatly to its success and you would know also that each operator looks for identity, so before being mad, calm down and read previous threads on this forum. Look is one of the functions of design and only the signature, but it is an important one. Of course, engineering is important too. But nowadays, when all technical parameters, requirement, reach the top, confort, practical and are around similar budgets, how can you choose? Design also works on identity and culture and helps to sell.
> ...


How do you conclude where I live?
If it can be so easily done please give me a single example from high speed mass transportation because I haven't ever seen one. 
windtunnel and supercomputer aren't cheap.
I would like to travel in fast and reliable train , I don't care if it looked like a *****
And I definitely wouldn't want to travel in train which looks like Audi or Honda as there is only seats for 5
you are first one I have met who supposedly uses trains because they look cool

I think first-grade engineering can result in very beautiful products


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## FazilLanka (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't like the front look, but I like the rest.


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## Tri-ring (Apr 29, 2007)

ruready1000 said:


> *HEMU-400 Design
> *
> A Webzine by KRRI(Korea Railroad Reserarch Institute) reported the process of HEMU-400 design in details.
> 
> ...





Micrav said:


> Researches were more interesting than the final design, The double-deck looked really awesome. The last version, single deck looks quite "normal" compared to it. But I know what it takes to reach a final design. Interior looks very interesting.
> 
> _And to answer one last time to agaristagari:_
> If you would be live in Europe, you would be interested by the TGV saga and its look. External design contributed greatly to its success and you would know also that each operator looks for identity, so before being mad, calm down and read previous threads on this forum. Look is one of the functions of design and only the signature, but it is an important one. Of course, engineering is important too. But nowadays, when all technical parameters, requirement, reach the top, confort, practical and are around similar budgets, how can you choose? Design also works on identity and culture and helps to sell.


Although I do not read Korean so have no idea what is written within the link but I believe the CGs are nothing more than eye candy which may or may not be developed within the next 5 years. In other words vaporware.
Does the link provide any target dates?

To my knowledge Rotem does not have any prior experience in developing HSR EMUs meaning they will face many technical challenges ahead.
In Japan even with the vast experience, needed the Fastech 360 as a testbed in proving new technology which is scheduled to be incorporated into the E5 series. The front design went through countless computer simulations and wind tunnel testing but still had to go through actual testing utilizing two sepreate designs to determine the final design.

Do you think HEMU-400 will work exactly as they had drew on the drawing board?
I doubt it.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*KTX Metropolitan Rolling Stock Workshop*



















































































images from korail5148


satellite image


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Tri-ring said:


> Although I do not read Korean so have no idea what is written within the link but I believe the CGs are nothing more than eye candy which may or may not be developed within the next 5 years. In other words vaporware.
> Does the link provide any target dates?
> 
> To my knowledge Rotem does not have any prior experience in developing HSR EMUs meaning they will face many technical challenges ahead.
> ...


The target date is 2012. Of course there would be many obstacles in their way and the results could come shorter than their orignal targets, but anyway they announced it will be developed by 2012. The day we show it running on tracks would be the remote future, even if it will be successfully developed, because they should use KTX and KTX-II at least for 25 years or more.


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## bobdikl (Jul 20, 2004)

come on guys, have faith in Korean....arent's that some of our latest search engines features and consumer electronics patents (from mobile entertaiment to new washing machine technology) were origin from the koreans? yes, yes, yes.. despite those services later were standardised by yahoo, google, apple or the americans.


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## Huhu (Jun 5, 2004)

Great pictures of the workshop. :cheers:


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## urbanfan89 (May 30, 2007)

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future there will be KTX to Pyongyang, Wonsan, and Sinuiju, with connections to CRH to Dandong, Shenyang, Beijing, etc.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*KTX-II*















































































































*Normal Room*
















































*Special Room*























































images from korail blog


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## Micrav (Feb 19, 2008)

ruready1000 said:


> *KTX-II*


Oops, why the driver seat is not in the middle position of the window? It cut a big part ov vision, although I know that it is not as fundamental as for other vehicules... It seems that the driving place has not designed in relation with the new exterior design... Like if it was wade for the old TGV with two windows... Strange. The rest looks very fine. But here obviously, there is something i don't understand...


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## honwai1983 (Dec 24, 2005)

I wonder why KTX still use Electric Locomove Unit?
That kind of train is not suitible for hilly suitation of South Korea!
This is the Age of EMU!


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> Anyone know why they would switch? Are conventional bogies cheaper, or what are the advantages vs. a jacobs bogie?


I saw some railfans' assumption such as 'to reduce the axle loads to below 13 ton (KTX-II : 17 ton)', it may be harder to put power on jacob bogie', and 'to avoid (possible) patent problems' etc.



aquaticko said:


> Having those hump things on top of the trains is...unusual, isn't it? I know that this train is switching from a locomotive to an EMU setup, but I don't remember seeing anything like that on other EMU's. It also seems pretty unhelpful for aerodynamics, which are particularly important here considering the +350km/h operating speeds this is set for.
> 
> Anyone have a clue to all this? All that aside, it is a pretty train.


Do you mean the pantograph cover? According to Next Generation High Speed Rail Technology Center homepage (in charge of the project), it's for decreasing drag and acoustic noise.









They tested 4 models (left image) and proposed one model (right one).


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

The fairings are designed not only for aerodynamics, but also (and likely primarily) to reduce noise as pantograph noise is a problem at high speeds. It appears Hyundai Rotem is emphasizing environmental benefits of their trainset in addition to high speed.

For reference- 500 series shinkansen pantograph fairing:
http://img2.blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ybi/1/46/8c/m3i/folder/31568/img_31568_3984788_0?1259334138


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## loefet (Dec 30, 2008)

I bet that they are testing different designs on the pantograph fairings on that train (seeing that it's a test train) and that the final design will only have 2 of them on the whole train, making it look a lot smoother.

Speaking of massive pantograph fairings, nothing come close to the Japanese 300X ones in size and shape. It's one of those things that make it one of the best looking trains ever made in my eyes, especially with that end car that is showing (the other one looks a lot worse though).









Source of the image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300X


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

So are the prototypes already made and being tested now?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

krnboy1009 said:


> So are the prototypes already made and being tested now?


Yes. As far as I know, they are doing in-house testing now.










bigger image


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

Sweet. Any bilevel train version that was designed, any news on that?

I guess the demand wouldnt be up to where bilevel trains are needed at this point in time.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

krnboy1009 said:


> Sweet. Any bilevel train version that was designed, any news on that?
> 
> I guess the demand wouldnt be up to where bilevel trains are needed at this point in time.


There was one news out of nowhere about duplex high speed train one month ago, saying the prototype of duplex high speed train would be introduced next month. source(korean)

I don't know whether the prototype acutally exists or it's just a misinformed news because I've never heard of it and I can't find another article or source aside from this one. There's surely one picture of duplex design at HEMU-400X official homepage, but it just says ' modelling and rendering of duplex design ' and gives no comment on making prototype. So let's wait and see.


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## Silver Swordsman (Nov 8, 2011)

To be honest, that theoretical Korean Duplex looks a lot more aesthetically appealing the HEMU-400X


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## Sopomon (Oct 2, 2010)

Silver Swordsman said:


> To be honest, that theoretical Korean Duplex looks a lot more aesthetically appealing the HEMU-400X


Although suspiciously similar to the concept that was put forward by (a firm who's name I an't remember) for the British High speed rail system being developed.

Also, love the HEMU, not too hot on the roofline, of course being a protoype, I'm sure it'll change.


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## hmmwv (Jul 19, 2006)

Silver Swordsman said:


> To be honest, that theoretical Korean Duplex looks a lot more aesthetically appealing the HEMU-400X


I was gonna say the same thing, the duplex looks cool. The 400X still gives people the impression that it's a locomotive driven train due to the drive car's white out windows and enlarged pantograph fairing.


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

hmmwv said:


> I was gonna say the same thing, the duplex looks cool. The 400X still gives people the impression that it's a locomotive driven train due to the drive car's white out windows and enlarged pantograph fairing.


Why are the windows of car 1 white?


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

I think thats supposed to be reflected light from sun or something.


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## hmmwv (Jul 19, 2006)

nouveau.ukiyo said:


> Why are the windows of car 1 white?


I don't know, considering other windows are not white I'd imagine that means the front 3/4 of the drive car is for equipment, different from other EMUs.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

nouveau.ukiyo said:


> Why are the windows of car 1 white?


Not a official comment or source, but I saw at a railfan's blog that rheostatic brake equipment was installed in that area.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

ruready1000 said:


> Not a official comment or source, but I saw at a railfan's blog that rheostatic brake equipment was installed in that area.


I received Railers magazine featuring HEMU-430X yesterday. According to this magazine, original plan was to install rheostatic brake at the MC car, but this plan was cancelled during the development process, so no rhesotatic brake is installed on MC car (test equipment is installed instead), even though the appreance of the car looks so.









source : Railers magazine


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

So in the production model, those blacked out portions of car 1 will be passenger seats?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

nouveau.ukiyo said:


> So in the production model, those blacked out portions of car 1 will be passenger seats?


Well I don't know but I guess so. It would look like the TC car.









source : Railers magazine


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Design Drafts of KTX on Honam HSR*

Korail announced KTX design drafts of Honam HSR(scheduled to open in 2014). Basically it's almost identical to KTX-Sancheon with some modification. Total 22 trainsets (220 cars) will be introduced.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^I really like the yellow and blue paint schemes. Do you know if any of the modifications will help improve the reliability of the Sancheon?


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## Silly_Walks (Aug 23, 2010)

I like the red paint job, if the paint was a dark blue


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> Are you saying this under the assumption that the components will be built to withstand cruising at 430kmh and that 500kmh will thus be possible, or am I missing something? Especially considering that service is scheduled to be at 370kmh....


I think it's fifty-fifty as of now. If they become convinced, they would try to push the maximum speed higher for the record, or else they would not. And the government has a plan to install 400km/h test bed section on Honam HSR line as a test purpose, even though the targeted operation speed for this train is 370km/h.























aquaticko said:


> Also, does anyone know if the plan on this page is still being implemented? It makes a lot of sense for a country sized and populated like South Korea.












That plan is still ongoing based on 'National Railway Plan 2011~2020'.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

HEMU-430X Photos





































source


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## Maadeuurija (Nov 14, 2010)

looks rather shiny


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## mrmoopt (Nov 14, 2004)

They should have just raised the roofline to get ride of the humps.


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## everywhere (May 10, 2012)

*Double-decker KTX to ply Seoul-Daejon route*
(Chosun Ilbo, July 20)



> A double-decker train will be in operation as early as 2016. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on Thursday said it commissioned the Korea Railroad Research Institute to look into the feasibility of a double-decker KTX in April. The actual feasibility study will begin next year.
> 
> The aim is to increase passenger capacity on Seoul-Daejeon route, which has long been saturated.


more: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/07/20/2012072001308.html


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

> The aim is to increase passenger capacity on Seoul-Daejeon route, which has long been saturated.


When you are running 18 car length trains, I suppose the only way to increase capacity is to start using double deck cars, though you have to be careful to not increase station dwell times. Does anybody know the headways on this stretch of track (trains per hour?)


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

Well, as nobody seems to know, I checked a monthly timetable book, the one that sells for 5000 won at the kiosks, and it seems the typical headway is 10 to 20 minutes. Probably you could squeeze in another train, but perhaps that's hindered by capacity restrictions on the low speed lines into Seoul Station.


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## George08 (Jun 30, 2012)

Any update about the Honam high speed rail?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

George08 said:


> Any update about the Honam high speed rail?


Honam High Speed Rail is under construction.



> Construction is 53% completed now. It will be 77.8% completed next year and be wholly completed by the end of 2014.
> Korail purchased 22 trainsets (10 cars per one trainset) for Honam High Speed Rail.
> Source(korean)


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## George08 (Jun 30, 2012)

Thanks


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

*New KTX service Jinju-Seoul*

I have not much information but according Kojects, the new KTX service between Seoul and Jinju (South Gyeongsang) has started this week through the new double track electrified Gyeongjeon Line.










It's a total of 53.3km from Masan to Jinju with five new station: Jinju, Banseong, Gunbuk, Hanam and Jungri.

KTX trains from Seoul to Jinju runs five times a day (six on mondays) in both direction in 3 and a half hours.


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## pwormald (Nov 29, 2008)

Sr.Horn said:


> *New KTX service Jinju-Seoul*
> I have not much information but according Kojects, the new KTX service between Seoul and Jinju (South Gyeongsang) has started this week through the new double track electrified Gyeongjeon Line.KTX trains from Seoul to Jinju runs five times a day (six on mondays) in both direction in 3 and a half hours.


Latest KTX timetables on this link shows these trains 
http://info.korail.com/2007/download/sta/1_korail_total_train_time_121205_KTX.xls

This link always goes to latest timetables of all trains
http://info.korail.com/servlets/renew.sta.sta01000.sw_sta01000_v1Svt


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## ArtZ (Feb 17, 2006)

Hyundai's KTX-II is one of world's most advanced high-speed train sets.:cheers:


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## Kowiana (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that Kojects has been relaunched so we should have more info about high speed rail in South Korea up soon. Particularly looking forward to hearing more info about the GTX lines and HEMU this year, so will try and keep you posted.


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## Huti (Nov 13, 2008)

ruready1000 said:


> HEMU-430X
> 
> 
> 
> ...


_*WOW!*_


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

neat & tight


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## Silly_Walks (Aug 23, 2010)

ArtZ said:


> Hyundai's KTX-II is one of world's *most advanced high-speed train sets*.:cheers:


Really? A heavy power car in stead of distributed traction? It seems to be just a TGV in a Korean jacket.

I'm not dissing the thing, I like the way it looks, but calling it 'one of the most advanced' requires a little bit more argumentation :lol:


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Kowiana said:


> Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that Kojects has been relaunched so we should have more info about high speed rail in South Korea up soon. Particularly looking forward to hearing more info about the GTX lines and HEMU this year, so will try and keep you posted.


Good to hear; I check your site periodically to look for new developments. And I'm also really looking forward to hearing about those two, especially the GTX. Dunno if you know more about it than I do, but it's basically just a very deep, high-speed network of lines to better connect Seoul satellite cities, right? I haven't heard of anything like that anywhere else.


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

Silly_Walks said:


> Really? A heavy power car in stead of distributed traction? It seems to be just a TGV in a Korean jacket.
> 
> I'm not dissing the thing, I like the way it looks, but calling it 'one of the most advanced' requires a little bit more argumentation :lol:


Yea I wouldnt go far and call it advanced train set, its pretty neat looking though.


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## makita09 (Sep 8, 2009)

Silly_Walks said:


> Really? A heavy power car in stead of distributed traction? It seems to be just a TGV in a Korean jacket.
> 
> I'm not dissing the thing, I like the way it looks, but calling it 'one of the most advanced' requires a little bit more argumentation :lol:


Thought the same, didn't want to risk offence. (Yes rather out of character I know)


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## hmmwv (Jul 19, 2006)

Maybe he meant HEMU430X?


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## makita09 (Sep 8, 2009)

Possibly, but I feel he was just getting over-excited about KTX-II. It is a good solid modern train, no doubt.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Ministry mulls new operator for high-speed rail

The government is considering a second state-run company to operate the new Korea Train Express (KTX) business, a high-speed railway system, in a bid to increase competition in the railway industry. Currently, Korea Railroad (Korail) is the sole KTX operator. 

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said in release yesterday that nothing has been decided. However, it admitted that setting up a new public firm to operate the new KTX service, which is scheduled to be launched in 2015 from Suseo Station in southern Seoul, is under consideration. Sources said the ministry is expected to report its plan to President Park Geun-hye next week or so. 

Seo Seung-hwan, minister of land, transport and maritime affairs, said during his confirmation hearing the ministry will find a “third solution” on the new KTX business. 

Saenuri Party lawmaker Cho Hyun-ryong also said he will propose a law to establish a second state-run railroad operator. 

Korail’s debt totaled 13.5 trillion won ($12 billion) at the end of 2011 and is suffering from the failure of the Yongsan International Business District development project. 

But not all parties welcome the idea. The Transport Labor & Policy Research Institute issued a report last week, saying establishment of another public railroad operator will create more problems. 

“There will be no effect of competition as regional monopoly will be strengthened,” the institute said in its analysis report. “The cost of establishing the new firm will be 300 billion won to 400 billion won, and an additional 60 billion won will be needed every year for operation.” 

Currently, some transportation-related business is double operated in Korea. For instance, Seoul subway system is managed by Seoul Metro, which covers lines No. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit, which covers lines No. 5, 6, 7, and 8.


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

^^
Wouldn't forming a second (!) state run railway be throwing good money after bad? Unless it's a scheme to get out of onerous labor conditions.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

It is especially confusing when you consider that the Suseo line that this is supposedly being set up to operate is really _just_ from Suseo station until it merges with the Gyeongbu line north of Cheonan-Asan, the northernmost station outside of Seoul, unless they're also thinking they'd hand over control of other lines to this new company in the future.

I think that almost as likely, they'd do this to try and continue construction of new lines under the name of this new company in order to get around the big debt that Korail has accumulated.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HEMU-430X Sets New Korean Speed Record : 421.4 km/h*





























HEMU-430X has recorded a speed of 421.4 km/h on March, 28th. After this, the test would be focused on the stabilization of HEMU-430X until the construction of Honam High Speed Rail is completed in 2014. When the dedicated test line(Gongju ~Jeongeup, 88km) on Honam HSR Line is completed, HEMU-430X will test the target speed (430km/h).


*Korean High-Speed Train Speed Record*

- HSR-350X
 352.4 km/h (16th of December, 2004)
- HEMU-430X

 354.64 km/h ( 09th of September, 2012)
 360 km/h ( 02th of December, 2012)
 380.2 km/h ( 13th of December, 2012)
 401.4 km/h ( 27th of December, 2012)
 408.1 km/h ( 24th of January, 2013)
 413.3 km/h ( 24th of Februrary, 2013)
 417.3 km/h ( 24th of March, 2013)
 421.4 km/h ( 28th of March, 2013)


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## foxmulder (Dec 1, 2007)

Nice news. Are there any firm orders for it from Korean rail?


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## Sopomon (Oct 2, 2010)

Looks like they're still pushing it, what's the target speed?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

foxmulder said:


> Nice news. Are there any firm orders for it from Korean rail?


There's no news about it, but I think it's almost certain that Korail will purchase it.



Sopomon said:


> Looks like they're still pushing it, what's the target speed?


The target speed is 430 km/h as its name HEMU-430X suggests.


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## Sopomon (Oct 2, 2010)

^^ Not aiming to go any higher than that?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Sopomon said:


> ^^ Not aiming to go any higher than that?


I think they have no intention to go higher than the target speed for now. The reason is that the government already launched HEMU-500X Project last year and they rekcon that it will take 3~4 years to achieve it.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

ruready1000 said:


> I think they have no intention to go higher than the target speed for now. The reason is that the government already launched HEMU-500X Project last year and they rekcon that it will take 3~4 years to achieve it.


Is that going to be a maglev project or traditional HSR? I know that maglev is a whole new infrastructure, but if I remember correctly traditional HSR service above 350km/h isn't very cost-effective, nevermind that nowhere in South Korea is 500km apart. Is it planned predominantly as an export model?

I guess I'm asking, could you direct me to any additional info about the HEMU-500x?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> Is that going to be a maglev project or traditional HSR? I know that maglev is a whole new infrastructure, but if I remember correctly traditional HSR service above 350km/h isn't very cost-effective, nevermind that nowhere in South Korea is 500km apart. Is it planned predominantly as an export model?
> 
> I guess I'm asking, could you direct me to any additional info about the HEMU-500x?


*
A Comment from KRRI's Official Press Release about HEMU-430X's new speed record mentioned it* and KRRI mention '500km/h train development' at their homepage:


> 또한 “앞으로 3년내 500km/h 기술을 선보이고, 5년내 600km/h의 핵심기술을 개발·도입되면, 우리나라 전체가 1시간대 통근권으로 바뀌게 되어 지역균형발전을 앞당기고, 세계 최고의 고속철도 기술을 보유하여 새로운 성장동력이 될 것” 이라고 밝혔다.
> 
> If we can present 500km/h technology within 3 years and develop and introduce the core technology of 600km/h train within 5 years.........


According to the presentation of Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs & KICTEP (Korea Institute of Construction and Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning), *Wheel-on-rail type 500km/h train (HEMU-500X) are being developed* :



















*Lastly, News about 'HEMU-500X To Be Developed'*


> A state-run think tank said on Jan. 23 that it will begin the process of developing a new high-speed train with a maximum speed of 500 kilometers per hour this year.
> 
> The Korea Institute of Construction and Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning said it will spend about 400 billion won (US$375 million) in 2013 to carry out 10 research and development (R&D) projects, including the development of technologies for the new bullet train, named the "HEMU-500X." HEMU stands for high-speed electric multiple unit.
> 
> ...


To summarize :

1. The research institutes(KICTEP and KRRI) are studying and developing 'Wheel-on-rail' type 500km/h train. Whether it can be commercialized or not, of course, is another matter.

2. KRRI(Korean Railroad Research Institute) has a taskforce team developing Super Speed Maglev train, but the details are unknown.


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

> ...but if I remember correctly traditional HSR service above 350km/h isn't very cost-effective,


Good point aquaticko. Specifically energy consumption due to wind resistance above 300km/h is considerable- increasing at approximately the square of speed. This is likely why service speeds on HSR systems worldwide top out at 300~320km/h. Of course, developing a trainset capable of _one-off_ 400~500km/h speeds may be a good marketing exercise.


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Especially if they want to export the technology. I wonder if it'll work in Korea due to the amount of time the ktx spends in tunnels?


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

DaeguDuke said:


> Especially if they want to export the technology. I wonder if it'll work in Korea due to the amount of time the ktx spends in tunnels?


Yes, high speeds make good advertising copy. As for tunnels, they actually _increase_ energy consumption at high speeds (see below), though it can be mitigated partially by aerodynamics and increased tunnel diameters. The question is that for a relatively small country like S. Korea, whether speeds above say 350km/h are really necessary for commercial service, as you have to think about the tradeoffs in terms of braking distance, capacity constraints imposed by having a few very high speed trains taking up pathings, and the all important question of operating costs.



*


> Tunnels.
> The simulations carried out by London Imperial College [21] indicate that a
> notional 10 km tunnel would increase energy needs at 320 km/h by 157, 107 or 65 kWh for tunnels with diameters of 8.5, 9.8 and 12 metres respectively. These results of course depend on the rolling stock and other assumptions applied to the simulation.


source:
http://www.greengauge21.net/wp-content/uploads/SYSTRA-Factors-affecting-HSR-carbon-impacts.pdf (page 17)


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

At the moment the ktx takes a lot less time than the slow train/express buses so probably not. Especially as with the current high speed line extensions (목포Mokpo/Yeosu여수/) the central portion from Daejeon to north of Cheonan-Asan must be near or at capacity. Additionally the tracks nearby Seoul are at least quad-tracked but still too busy to run at top speed.

Aside from the possibility of exporting the technology, an advantage of having trains capable of higher speeds would be better efficiency at lower speeds and then shaving a few minutes off the trip where full speed is possible?


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## eminencia (Apr 8, 2007)

k.k.jetcar said:


> Good point aquaticko. Specifically energy consumption due to wind resistance above 300km/h is considerable- increasing at approximately the square of speed. This is likely why service speeds on HSR systems worldwide top out at 300~320km/h. Of course, developing a trainset capable of _one-off_ 400~500km/h speeds may be a good marketing exercise.


With increasing speed increases signifficantly the wear of the infrastructure. This is another cause of the unfeasibility of speeds above 320-350kmh.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Thanks, ruready1000.

I guess it is useful as a tech exercise, and considering that pace the the KTX system is developing, it clearly deserves more international attention, but they'd do just as well to increase reliability and diversify both their rolling stock and number of services. Pursuing double-decker trains and a more efficient, lower-speed train (~225km/h) would seem like at least as wise an investment.

Speaking of, I haven't heard anything about the tilting train experiment (TTX) for a while. Anything there?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

k.k.jetcar said:


> Good point aquaticko. Specifically energy consumption due to wind resistance above 300km/h is considerable- increasing at approximately the square of speed. This is likely why service speeds on HSR systems worldwide top out at 300~320km/h. Of course, developing a trainset capable of _one-off_ 400~500km/h speeds may be a good marketing exercise.


You're right. Many rail fans are thinking that it's a great success if the commercial service could reach 330 km/h ~ 350 km/h.


DaeguDuke said:


> Especially if they want to export the technology. I wonder if it'll work in Korea due to the amount of time the ktx spends in tunnels?


It may be hard in Gyeongbu Line because there's so many tunnel. But Honam Line is passing the plains, so you can expect faster speed in this line.



DaeguDuke said:


> At the moment the ktx takes a lot less time than the slow train/express buses so probably not. Especially as with the current high speed line extensions (목포Mokpo/Yeosu여수/) the central portion from Daejeon to north of Cheonan-Asan must be near or at capacity. Additionally the tracks nearby Seoul are at least quad-tracked but still too busy to run at top speed.
> 
> Aside from the possibility of exporting the technology, an advantage of having trains capable of higher speeds would be better efficiency at lower speeds and then shaving a few minutes off the trip where full speed is possible?


Gyeongbu HSR line is competitive against express buses, slower train and airline. But the current Honam HSR line (from/to Mokpo) and Jeolla Line (from/to Yeosu, via Honam Line) run on conventional rail so that its competitiveness against rival transportations is relatively weak and will remain weak till the dedicated high-speed rail line open in 2014 or 2015.


aquaticko said:


> Thanks, ruready1000.
> 
> I guess it is useful as a tech exercise, and considering that pace the the KTX system is developing, it clearly deserves more international attention, but they'd do just as well to increase reliability and diversify both their rolling stock and number of services. Pursuing double-decker trains and a more efficient, lower-speed train (~225km/h) would seem like at least as wise an investment.
> 
> Speaking of, I haven't heard anything about the tilting train experiment (TTX) for a while. Anything there?


There's a plan to develop high-speed duplex trains in the same presentation data that I attached above. For TTX, see this link.


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

DaeguDuke said:


> The Shikansen lines as well as the Korean KTX lines share track close to cities, I'm not sure how well the wireless power would work if an overhead line was still required for other trains


In Korea I don't know, but in Japan, shinkansen and other trains do not have
the same track gauge, so they obviously don't share tracks.


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## SamuraiBlue (Apr 2, 2010)

Silver Swordsman said:


> Why hasn't Japan tried to implement this? I was under the impression that JR was under pressure to reduce noise, and wire/catenary contact was one of the main culprits...


There will always be a trade off with new technology.
Energy efficiency for wire/catenary contact has 93%+ energy efficiency rate. Down side is noise pollution and wear and tear.
Although the technology may sound promising but at present 83% efficiency rate, I believe power loss & initial cost out weighs potential benefits.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Well, as ruready1000 said, they're hoping to improve the efficiency before actually implementing the system, and I think it'll be a worthwhile upgrade for the Korean HSR system if they decide to spread it throughout the whole network.

And why does the Japanese maglev system have to be _more_ impressive? I'd say they're equally impressive, although wireless electricity transmission is a much more revolutionary technology (generally speaking). Let's not do a Korea v. Japan thing; both countries are inarguably very advanced in the field of high speed rail systems.


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## mavis_dark (May 9, 2009)

aquaticko said:


> Well, as ruready1000 said, they're hoping to improve the efficiency before actually implementing the system, and I think it'll be a worthwhile upgrade for the Korean HSR system if they decide to spread it throughout the whole network.
> 
> And why does the Japanese maglev system have to be _more_ impressive? I'd say they're equally impressive, although wireless electricity transmission is a much more revolutionary technology (generally speaking). Let's not do a Korea v. Japan thing; both countries are inarguably very advanced in the field of high speed rail systems.


Why maglev is more interesting? I don't even know where to start. Speed comes to mind first Also the fact that it is way less conventional, and yes, futuristic. Also, Japan is unique in that it is the only country doing it in large scale. But this all is IMHO of course.

PS. It never was my intention to start Korea vs Japan, because I'm from a country far far away from East Asia and have absolutely no connection to it
I agree that there is no need to compare these too. Mainly because I think Japan is on whole different level(when it comes to rail technology, doubly so), and this is not IMHO


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Maglevs are more impressive because they fly using magnets as if by magic... 

Hopefully they've worked out the kinks over the last couple kinks since the Shanghai maglev but Japan already has a maglev subway line right? Probably another thread for that tho..


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## mavis_dark (May 9, 2009)

DaeguDuke said:


> Maglevs are more impressive because they fly using magnets as if by magic...


They use magic wand:lol:
Back to the topic. Has Korea exported any HSR ? I know Rotem has built EMU and metro rolling stock for many countries, but I can't find anything about KTX.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

I think they have an agreement with Turkey to produce high-speed trainsets, though it's not clear if they'll be KTX trains or a new design developed for or with TUVASAS. They're also considered to be a front runner for the Brazilian HSR project, but who knows when/if that'll ever happen.

I was probably being generous in saying Korean HSR is technologically on par with Japan's, but as the Koreans tend to do, they're moving quickly, and for every route in the world that couldn't or wouldn't spend money on new maglev infrastructure, wireless HSR seems as though it'll be a more important advance (and wireless electricity transmission in general is still pretty futuristic, you have to admit).


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## mavis_dark (May 9, 2009)

Agree, Brazilian HSR will take a long time. Rotem might even land it, although they should really stop screwing up. The way Rotem failed in Ukraine and then in USA certainly won't help their chances, especially when the competition is known for safety and reliability.
As for maglev, I think the probability of it being adopted right now is very slim. After Japan builds its line it might, and probably will, change. Also doesn't help that technology is scarce. Even China scraped the work on maglev.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^That's what I'm saying. Maglev is an entirely different kind of high speed transit system, impressive in its own right but totally separate from on-rail high-speed trains. 

Wireless electricity transmission for traditional HSR is applicable in many more places because it's a modification of currently-existent infrastructure, and represents a very useful potential improvement over pantograph and overhead wires in terms of aerodynamics, friction, construction costs, and maintenance.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*KTX to start passenger service to Incheon Airport *



> SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's bullet train will begin service to the country's main international airport starting June 30, which is expected to improve convenience for travelers, the state-run rail operator said Monday.
> 
> Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said Korea Train Express (KTX) will go to Incheon International Airport 20 times a day.
> 
> ...





KTX Schedule (from or to Incheon Airport)


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## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140630001212

General departure info here:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1930476


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Underwater KTX Tunnel to Link Jeju to Mainland

_An underwater tunnel is to create a high-speed rail link connecting the southern resort island of Jeju with the mainland. If the tunnel becomes a reality, it would take just two hours and 40 minutes to get from Seoul to Jeju by KTX.

A POSCO Engineering and Construction spokesman said Tuesday, "We reviewed the construction plan for the rail link and concluded that it is feasible." The builder plans to form a special team to oversee the project and has notified the government.

The rail link would involve building a 171 km railroad from Mokpo, South Jeolla Province to Jeju. Part of it would be built on a bridge and the remaining 85 km underwater.

The government conducted a feasibility study on the underwater tunnel in 2010 but put it on the back burner due to cost concerns.

But a construction industry insider said, "Since 2010 Jeju has seen a 10-percent rise in the number of tourists each year, surpassing 10 million in 2013. There is ample demand so there shouldn't be any problems in terms of financing." 

A government official said, "We're looking into including the underwater tunnel in our master plan for railway infrastructure to be finalized at the end of this year."_

Granted, the sources cited are "a construction industry insider" and "a government official", but it just makes so much sense, what with Seoul-Jeju being one of the world's busiest flights corridors, and Korea's highly-developed construction industry.

I guess we'll have to wait until the end of the year, but I have my fingers crossed.:banana:


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## Silly_Walks (Aug 23, 2010)

If they can do that, then they can also build a tunnel to Japan via Tsushima and Iki


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Keep Calm, it's a korean plan :lol:


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Well a tunnel to Japan would be much, much longer, never mind the political issues with physically linking Korea and Japan. If that tunnel is ever built, and I agree it should be, it probably won't happen until the latter half of this century.

As for it being a Korean plan, what's wrong with that? I don't know if you realize, but the South has historically followed through on rail development plans, and there are tons of incentives for them to on this one. It's also not the first time a rail link to Jeju has been discussed before, which suggests to me it's likely it'll happen. There's no real reason to doubt this project; we just have to wait and see if it's actually going to happen.


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## ddes (Oct 17, 2006)

Why did Korea choose to go for low platforms? "When" the country is finally connected to China and Japan, I'd imagine there'd be integration issues.


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

aquaticko said:


> ^^Well a tunnel to Japan would be much, much longer, never mind the political issues with physically linking Korea and Japan. If that tunnel is ever built, and I agree it should be, it probably won't happen until the latter half of this century.
> 
> As for it being a Korean plan, what's wrong with that? I don't know if you realize, but the South has historically followed through on rail development plans, and there are tons of incentives for them to on this one. It's also not the first time a rail link to Jeju has been discussed before, which suggests to me it's likely it'll happen. There's no real reason to doubt this project; we just have to wait and see if it's actually going to happen.



Yup, its still far too expensive. Technology evolves though, it may become cheaper later.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

ddes said:


> Why did Korea choose to go for low platforms? "When" the country is finally connected to China and Japan, I'd imagine there'd be integration issues.


Because Korea uses (wrongly) French technology hno:


@ aquaticko: I'm kidding, my reaction is because the anti-development movement established in Seoul (i.e. skyscrapers projects) and because Korean government or Korean mass media or simply, Korean rail fans can't transmit or share the Korean railway projects.

Is simply: I lived for one year in Busan and I have the interest in the modernization of the Donghae-Nambu Line but it's really difficult for foreigners to find information about the project. hno:

BTW I think the double track between Bujeon and Gijang will be finished by the end of this FY (or partially).


----------



## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Oh, I see. Yeah, I understand that feeling too. Looking for official information on the HEMU-430x and ITX-Saemaul, and the Gyeongjeon line and metropolitan rail projects, is challenging.



> Yup, its still far too expensive. Technology evolves though, it may become cheaper later.


Normally I'd agree, but for a couple of reasons:

1. The Korean government has been looking at stimulus packages to get the economy moving again,
2. The government knows that Jeju is one of South Korea's major tourist areas, so rerouting some of that traffic through Seoul and the rest of the peninsula is obviously hugely appealing, and
3. One of Korea's foremost industries is construction, and both those companies and the country itself love big, impressive, brand-building things, which this most certainly would be one of.

In any case, we obviously just have to wait to see what happens in the coming months as to whether or not the tunnel will be built in the near future.


----------



## sylodon (Sep 5, 2004)

Silly_Walks said:


> If they can do that, then they can also build a tunnel to Japan via Tsushima and Iki


It was officially rejected by Korea due to economic reasons. Then again, idealistic organizations like the Unification Church(Moonies) is hell-bent on building it.



ddes said:


> Why did Korea choose to go for low platforms? "When" the country is finally connected to China and Japan, I'd imagine there'd be integration issues.


Well, in an official capacity, there's the "Eurasia Initiative", which is a plan to connect South Korean rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway. It's more of a political issue now, considering worsening ties with North Korea and Russia.


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## Cosmicbliss (Aug 9, 2009)

Why not a HSR from China to South Korea ? From the north east of China what with the Yantai tunnel and from Dalian, to the South, it would be a big boost.


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Couldn't go through North Korea frankly. As things stand politically perhaps a line from Weihai direct across the sea to Incheon/Seoul. That could serve Beijing and Shanghai. The tunnel would be too long, impossible to engineer currently. Nice idea though.


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## Cosmicbliss (Aug 9, 2009)

Can I get around SK easily by train If I am not a Korean? Korea has been on my mind as a travel destination; the costs are prohibitive.


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## Stainless (Jun 7, 2009)

DaeguDuke said:


> Couldn't go through North Korea frankly. As things stand politically perhaps a line from Weihai direct across the sea to Incheon/Seoul. That could serve Beijing and Shanghai. The tunnel would be too long, impossible to engineer currently. Nice idea though.


I wonder which will happen first, this becoming possible or a reunified Korea.


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Cosmicbliss said:


> Can I get around SK easily by train If I am not a Korean? Korea has been on my mind as a travel destination; the costs are prohibitive.


Yeah, the staff speak English, ticket machines are fairly easy to use (English/Korean) and most signs are also in English. It's about 60 usd to get the high speed train from Seoul to Busan, average meal out will set you back about $5 or $10 if you go all out and get beer / soju too. Love motel will set you back about 30usd a night although you can stay at a jjimjilbang (thing spa with communal sleeping areas) for about 12usd.
Korea is expensive to get to but once you're there things are relatively cheap. Check out Air Asia or Air Busan for cheaper flights than the search engines usually find


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

Another video about Honam HSR:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> Last I saw, the Honam HSR was supposed to be open next year. Is that correct?


Yes. It's scheduled to open in March, 2015.










Maps from wikipedia


*KTX service via conventional railway*

KTX service to Yeosu-Expo(Yeosu city) : open
KTX service to Jinju : open
KTX service to Incheon Internation Aiport : open


KTX service to Pohang : scheduled to open in May, 2015

*High Speed Rail*

Honam HSR Phase 1 
- From Osong To Gwangju-songjeong(Gwangju city)
- Stations : Osong, Gongju, Iksan, Jeongeup, Gwangju-songjeong
- 182.3 km
- scheduled to open in March, 2015

Gyeongbu HSR Daejeon and Daegu section
- Building a dedicated track in Daejeon(18.2km) and Daegu city(27km)
- scheduled to open in May, 2015

Suseo HSR
- Branched from Gyeongbu HSR near Pyeongtaek city to Suseo(Seoul city)
- 61.1 km
- scheduled to open in 2016 (originally scheduled to open in 2015 but delayed)


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

^^ And I think the upgrade for Jinju - Suncheon line (Gyeongjeon Line) will be finished soon.

And the direct link to Busan (Jillye - Bujeon) that is under construction since June according FRDB, ready by 2020.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Is Jinju-Suncheon, and therefore Busan-Suncheon, being upgraded to HSR speeds (200km/h or greater), or is it just higher speed rail?


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

I'm not sure but I think they are upgrading the whole line up to 200km/h (or 230 according Wikipedia/Jungang Daily)

1st phase was opened in 12/2012 and it's from Samnangjin (Gyeongbu Line junction) to Masan and Jinju. 










2nd phase (Jinju - Suncheon) will open next year according Future Rail Database.












After that, around 2020 the new direct link to central Busan (see #398) as a branch line.

^^ This is interesting because the new commuter services on Donghae-Nambu Line will be extended to Sasang, Gimhae Airport and Masan.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Sr.Horn said:


> ^^ And I think the upgrade for Jinju - Suncheon line (Gyeongjeon Line) will be finished soon.
> 
> And the direct link to Busan (Jillye - Bujeon) that is under construction since June according FRDB, ready by 2020.


I didn't include this because this topic is about HSR service.





aquaticko said:


> Is Jinju-Suncheon, and therefore Busan-Suncheon, being upgraded to HSR speeds (200km/h or greater), or is it just higher speed rail?













Gyeongjeon Line Upgrade Plan 

Gwangju-songjeong ~ Suncheon
- currently under reviewing
- electified double track or electified single track

Suncheon ~ Gwangyang
- completed
- electified double track
Gwangyang ~ Jinju
- under construction
- non-electified double track
Jinju ~ Masan
- completed
- electified double track
Masan ~ Busan
- under construction
- electified double track

According to long-term plan Gyeongjeon line will be upgraded to HSR speeds (200km/h or greater), but I think it will take long time.

Gwangyang ~ Jinju section will be still non-electified even after upgrading. This implies no higher speed service in this section for a while.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Honam HSR construction PR videos


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

ruready1000 said:


> Gwangyang ~ Jinju
> - non-electified double track


hno:

About the Masan-Busan branch, I suppose they will construct stations to allow passing trains, like in Donghae Nambu Line.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Honam HSR stations rendering image*










*Gongju Station (공주역)*
- To be completed by October












*Iksan Station (익산역)*
- To be completed by November












*Geongeup Station (정읍역)*
- To be completed by November












*Gwangju-songjeong station (광주송정역)*
- To be completed by this year



source : KR blog


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Gongju Station (공주역) situation by October 2014:






^^ Looks like the station is in the middle of nowhere.


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

Yes, the location appears to be south of the city. In fact some sources give it the name _Nam_gonju, rendered in hanja, it's 南公州駅, or South Gongju Station. This is the satellite view:
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3318276,127.0963487,593m/data=!3m1!1e3


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Man, that is ridiculous! It's like they couldn't have built the station any further from the city center! Hopefully there will be frequent bus service to the station.


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## airdrieboy1984 (Sep 25, 2013)

I think one of the reasons Namgongju is so far south is to try and get some of the passengers from the existing Gyeryong station to use the KTX plus appeal to potential passengers who will go to and from Gyeryong/Nonsan army bases. There are a large number of soldiers and families of soldiers travelling to this area.


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

3D animation of Gwangju Songjeong HSR station:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Iksan Station Rendering Image (익산역)*









Iksan Station (left : newly-built station, right: temporary station)









Iksan Station (bus stop and taxi stand, under construction)





























images from dcinside.com


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> Great! Does this mean that the Honam HSR line is officially open?
> 
> It seems strange to me that they went with ballasted track on a brand new line; I thought that ballastless track was supposed to be superior in a lot of ways. A quick Wikipedia lookup suggests that maybe they went with ballasted for reasons of passenger comfort? Any other ideas?


Honam HSR is ballastless track, just ballasted track are used within non-dedicated HSR stations such as Iksan, Jeongeup and Gwangju-songjeong station.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HONAM HSR TRAIN DEPOT in Gwangju*















Honam HSR train depot in Gwangju was aired on local news(0:26~0:33).
(it says gwangju-songjeong station, but it's Honam HSR train depot in gwangju)


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Honam HSL helicopter view


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## Silver Swordsman (Nov 8, 2011)

aquaticko said:


> Great! Does this mean that the Honam HSR line is officially open?
> 
> It seems strange to me that they went with ballasted track on a brand new line; I thought that ballastless track was supposed to be superior in a lot of ways. A quick Wikipedia lookup suggests that maybe they went with ballasted for reasons of passenger comfort? Any other ideas?


From the looks of it a lot of the track seems ballastless.


EDIT: Whoops, missed ruready's reply. 

In any case, ballastless track is sexy.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Honam HSL by the end of March:



> Seoul-Gwangju Bullet Train to Take Just 1½ Hours
> 
> The Seoul-Gwangju KTX Line opens in late March, shortening travel time to Gwangju to an hour and 33 minutes, down over an hour from the current trip.
> 
> ...


The Chosun Ilbo


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## Swede (Aug 24, 2002)

" But the new 182.3-m track"
huh? Surely the new track section isn't just 182.3 meters?


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Sr.Horn said:


> Honam HSL by the end of March:
> 
> 
> The Chosun Ilbo


What's also good is that I believe that not only will this shorten the travel time to Mokpo and Gwangju, but the Osong - Iksan section should also make it quicker to use the Jeolla line (to JeonJu, YeoSu)... Does anyone know how many minutes the Honam HSR lines shaves of travel times to the cities on the Jeolla line ?


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

It'll probably make some difference, but considering how short Osong-Iksan is, probably not much. As far as I know, most of the older track that caused the trains to slowdown was further south in Jeollanam.

I find it funny that a difference of W9,000 is considered a lot. With the opening of this HSR line, I think South Korea is probably going to come very close to making domestic air travel totally obsolete, at least from a practicality standpoint.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> It'll probably make some difference, but considering how short Osong-Iksan is, probably not much. As far as I know, most of the older track that caused the trains to slowdown was further south in Jeollanam.
> 
> I find it funny that a difference of W9,000 is considered a lot. With the opening of this HSR line, I think South Korea is probably going to come very close to making domestic air travel totally obsolete, at least from a practicality standpoint.


I did a bit of research, and it seems that the gain is in fact rather significant for the Jeolla line. The different sources don't say the same thing, but it seems that the gain will be of 40 minutes at least. Two reasons for that, the new section of the HSR Honam line starts "sooner" (from Seoul), and is kind of a shortcut because the old section was not really direct. Plus, the old section to Iksan was probably the slowest of the old Honam line, because the line keeps twisting and turning.

Two other line openings/improvements on the KTX railroad.
- The Daejeon and Daegu high-speed sections will open sometime this year (up until now, in these urban areas, the line followed the old GyeongBu line). This should cut about 8 minutes for trips from Seoul to Busan.
- The Pohang - New GyeongJu section of the DongHae NamBu Line will open in March, allowing direct KTX trips from Seoul to Pohang in two hours. Pohang had very poor train connectivity to the rest of the country until now (it apparently took 5 hours to get to Seoul and required a transfer in GyeongJu)

Source : http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002071205


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Ah, I stand corrected then.

I'm still having a hard time finding anything that suggests any progress on a Gyeongjeon HSR line. I know it's part of the government's 2020 plan for national rail service, but I don't know if that's going to create a line that's equivalent to the Gyeongbu and Honam HSR line or if it's simply a comprehensive upgrade to the current line. It seems like the former would make more sense, at least in terms of the ever-present goal of rebalancing regional economies.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> ^^Ah, I stand corrected then.
> 
> I'm still having a hard time finding anything that suggests any progress on a Gyeongjeon HSR line. I know it's part of the government's 2020 plan for national rail service, but I don't know if that's going to create a line that's equivalent to the Gyeongbu and Honam HSR line or if it's simply a comprehensive upgrade to the current line. It seems like the former would make more sense, at least in terms of the ever-present goal of rebalancing regional economies.


I know fairly little about that line...

But I just researched it.(http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002058839), and it does seem to be in limbo, either postponed or maybe on the brink of cancellation. I'm too lazy to try and read the entire article in Korean.

I do know however that some sections of the line have been upgraded or built (or still under construction), but I think that we won't see a full HSR line from Mokpo to Busan


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

*Honam - Gyeongbu High Speed Line Junction in Osong*

January 20. Source (and more photos): http://dynamicktx.oa.to/220077057995


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## dan72 (Apr 26, 2012)

Not thw worlds prettiest bridge lots of concrete poles


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## goldbough (Jun 19, 2007)

dan72 said:


> Not thw worlds prettiest bridge lots of concrete poles


Yes, all over the country the KTX tracks have huge concrete poles on its dedicated tracks. When you go to the countryside it doesn't look good at all to me.


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## ddes (Oct 17, 2006)

Is there a reason why the bridges are so ugly? Japan and China have elevated sections too, but they somehow blend with the scenery a lot better.


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## goldbough (Jun 19, 2007)

^^I'm not really sure. Maybe they just wanted to build it and be done.


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## foxmulder (Dec 1, 2007)

ddes said:


> Is there a reason why the bridges are so ugly? Japan and China have elevated sections too, but they somehow blend with the scenery a lot better.


Ugly?

I find them beautiful


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^I kind of do, too. They're like 3 waves across the countryside, though frankly I'm guessing it's that conspicuous inconsistency you don't like. I'm not sure that Korea does them any better or worse than China or Japan; concrete viaduct is only ever going to be so pretty.


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## hmmwv (Jul 19, 2006)

Also I believe these are actual bridges over a river, not just a viaduct, the latter probably allows thinner pillars spaced farther apart.


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## JuaanAcosta (Sep 28, 2014)

Hi people, there are any news about when the KTX-III (the commercial version of the HEMU-430X) will become operational?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> I don't doubt that there's not enough demand, but if the government wants South Korea to be less Seoul-centric, they have to do something to stimulate economic activity along another axis, and Gwangju-Busan is the only one which could conceivably even come close to the Gyeongbu corridor.


I also want to see less Seoul-centric but don't expect it during my life. :lol:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Gwangju-songseong new station opened today






*News Cilp about Gwangju-Seongjeong station openning*





*News Cilp about Honam HSR*


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## ddes (Oct 17, 2006)

ruready1000 said:


> I also want to see less Seoul-centric but don't expect it during my life. :lol:


I think only Pyongyang is a contender for decentralization on the peninsula.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Well, the Gyeongjeon Line is upgraded step by step. In 2014 started the works for Masan - central Busan branch with a new tunnel under the Gimhae Airport. Completion around 2020. http://frdb2.wo.to/552.htm

Coming year, 2016, the new track between Jinju and Suncheon will enter in service. http://frdb2.wo.to/553.htm

And don't know what is the situation on the totally new alignment on west side of the line. I mean the new track between Suncheon and Mokpo. http://frdb2.wo.to/444.htm

:dunno:


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## Silly_Walks (Aug 23, 2010)

I wish I can see a 300 km/h HSR Busan-Seoul-Pyongyang in a united Korea in my lifetime.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Sr.Horn said:


> And don't know what is the situation on the totally new alignment on west side of the line. I mean the new track between Suncheon and Mokpo. http://frdb2.wo.to/444.htm
> 
> :dunno:


This line is seemingly under construction but is practically suspended , considering that government put 0.1 million dollar a year into the construction.


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## goldbough (Jun 19, 2007)

I noticed something yesterday while riding the KTX. I often ride from Ulsan to Dong Daegu (울산-동대구) and every time I ride it gets to 300 kmh for literally a couple of minutes. The trip between those two stations is 24 minutes. I haven't ridden outside that track for a couple years.

They don't show how fast you're going until it hits 250 kmh. They show it on the TV screen in each train car.

I've ridden Seoul-Daejeon a few times and I'm sure it hit 300 kmh longer than a few minutes. Does anyone know how long the KTX is actually at 300 kmh?


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

It'll depend on the service. The (부산-울산-새경주) Busan-Ulsan-New Geongju-DongDaegu service probably won't hit 300k, whilst the non-stop services doing the same route will have a substantial portion at top speed.


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## nimedi (Nov 27, 2012)

All details about the Honam High Speed Railway: http://kojects.com/2015/02/23/the-honam-high-speed-railway-opens-in-april/
:banana:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Honam HSR Train Depot in Gwangju* | near _Gwangju-songjeong station_





*KTX-Sancheon bound for Mokpo* | _Gwangju-songjeong station_





*KTX-Sancheon bound for Mokpo* | _Jeongeup station_


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HEMU-430X Test Run On Honam HSR* | in _Jangseong_


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

Found this video:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Honam HSR and KTX to Pohang will begin operation in 2nd of April*

Korail announced that Honam HSR and KTX to Pohang would begin service next month. 
Korail revised the timetable of all routes and is now selling tickets from today.


KTX timetable (effective from April 2)
http://www.letskorail.com/etc/excel/train_time_150402KTX.xls

Normal train timetable (effective from April 2)
http://www.letskorail.com/etc/excel/total_train_time_150402.xls


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HEMU-430X Test Run On Honam HSR* | in _Jangseong_





*HEMU-430X Test Run On Honam HSR* | in _Jangseong_





*HEMU-430X Test Run On Honam HSR* | in _Jangseong_


I went to several location with a hope to take some video clips of KTX trial run on Honam HSR, but only saw HEMU-430X trial run instead.


----------



## kamilakk (Mar 16, 2015)




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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^"Only saw"? I've seen so few videos of the HEMU-430x at speed, and from the sounds of it, it must've been going near its top speed!

Thank you for the videos .


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

aquaticko said:


> ^^"Only saw"? I've seen so few videos of the HEMU-430x at speed, and from the sounds of it, it must've been going near its top speed!


I wanted to see KTX trial run because I'd seen HEMU-430X several times(over 10 times) but KTX once.

I also think it looks quite fast from the sound of it, but I doubt that it hits top speed in this video because the location capturing the video is not the 400km/h test section installed on Honam HSR(Gongju~Iksan and Iksan~Geongeup).


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## Silver Swordsman (Nov 8, 2011)

I'm quite surprised by how loud it is even from a distance. Looks like the builders didn't include sound-insulation into the ballastless slab track construction.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Well, considering that the tracks are designed for 350kph running outside of a few test sections, and that 350kph is plenty fast to ensure fast transit across the whole peninsula, I'm sure they didn't think it'd be worth the extra expense.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Noise regulation is, of course, provided :



> It should be under 65dB in day time and 60dB in night time.
> 
> (source from Ministery of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation)





> According to the results of environmental effects evaluation for noise and vibration, the adequate noise reduction measures such as noise barrier are established to the places estimated to exceed noise strandard below :
> 
> - Noise Standard(Leq) : 60dB(A)
> - Vibration Standard(LeQ) : 60dB(V)
> ...


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## M-NL (Sep 18, 2012)

Silver Swordsman said:


> I'm quite surprised by how loud it is even from a distance.


Can you accurately judge actual real life noise levels from a video? I've seen plenty of examples where the noise in videos didn't match my real live experience, both in a positive and a negative way.


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## Silver Swordsman (Nov 8, 2011)

M-NL said:


> Can you accurately judge actual real life noise levels from a video? I've seen plenty of examples where the noise in videos didn't match my real live experience, both in a positive and a negative way.


True, but I'm rather surprised that the camcorder's microphone was sensitive enough to pick up the sound of operation from so far away.

Standing just 500-750m away from the HSR here in Taiwan only lets you hear a low rumble--not a screaming jet engine.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Silver Swordsman said:


> True, but I'm rather surprised that the camcorder's microphone was sensitive enough to pick up the sound of operation from so far away.
> 
> Standing just 500-750m away from the HSR here in Taiwan only lets you hear a low rumble--not a screaming jet engine.


I didn't mind jet-like noise while recording because I thought it's inevitable in high speed after seeing this video.(jump to 01:14)

Rather I thought it's quite fast enough to sound jet screaming.


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## Silly_Walks (Aug 23, 2010)

You can expect trains to make that jet noise when doing 574 km/h running way over spec.

Regular cruising speeds during testing (around 300 km/h?) shouldn't create such noise. It would never pass any environmental study.


But I wasn't there, so I don't know if it's just the recording or if it's as noisy in reality.


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

Silly_Walks said:


> You can expect trains to make that jet noise when doing 574 km/h running way over spec.
> 
> Regular cruising speeds during testing (around 300 km/h?) shouldn't create such noise. It would never pass any environmental study.
> 
> ...


I mean that it creates jet noise especially when recording it from the distance angle chasing the high speed train, and HEMU-430X was testing above 400 km/h speed(slower than 574km/h for sure) .


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Railway Gazette:



> http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...iew/honam-high-speed-railway-inaugurated.html
> 
> *Honam high speed railway inaugurated*
> 01 Apr 2015
> ...


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

original image from wiki (modified)






> *Two KTX Lines Begin Operations*
> 
> The KTX line connecting Seoul and Pohang opened to the public this morning. The new route allows passengers to travel between the two cities in two and a half hours at a price of 52,600 won for a standard-class adult ticket. The Gwangju Honam KTX line also opened today. It directly links Seoul and Gwangju in roughly an hour and 45 minutes for 46,800 won per ticket.
> 
> source






> *Southwest gets faster rail service*
> 
> 
> A new high-speed KTX train service that links Seoul and the nation’s southwestern region was launched Wednesday, amid anticipation that it will help balance development between the regions with shortened traveling times.
> ...


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Honam HSR and Major Stations Aerial Footage* | _news clip_


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## castermaild55 (Sep 8, 2005)

The first day of operation on the Honam-KTX and already an incident: A small lid(?) at the front of the train opened 17 minutes after departure in Seoul. The crew then tried to close it with duck tape but as you can expect at the speed of over 200 km/h it didn't work and passengers had to change to another train.

http://www.wikitree.co.kr/main/news_view.php?id=213852










https://translate.google.com/transl...&rankingSeq=2&rankingSectionId=103&edit-text=

it is not a big problem there was a trouble
it is not able to bear the measures
it is disappeared by such thing that great effort was done 



.


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## nimedi (Nov 27, 2012)

castermaild55 said:


> The first day of operation on the Honam-KTX and already an incident: A small lid(?) at the front of the train opened 17 minutes after departure in Seoul. The crew then tried to close it with duck tape but as you can expect at the speed of over 200 km/h it didn't work and passengers had to change to another train.
> 
> http://www.wikitree.co.kr/main/news_view.php?id=213852
> 
> ...


Please provide source for your information: 

https://www.facebook.com/Kojects/posts/524923224313815


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## SamuraiBlue (Apr 2, 2010)

Well you can see in the photo the green duck tape all around the lid which speaks for itself.:lol:


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HONAM HSR*





*HONAM HSR*


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HONAM HSR*





*HONAM HSR*


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*Gwangjusongjeong* --> *Jeongeup* --> *Iksan*















*Gwangjusongjeong* --> *Iksan*




I tried to measure the speed on Honam HSR between Gwangjusongjeong and Iksan. When I traveled from Gwangjusonjeong to Iksan I took on a train making a stop at Jeongeup station and used a non-stop train on the return. I used a speedmeter app so that it might have some error.


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## Jay (Oct 7, 2004)

SamuraiBlue said:


> Well you can see in the photo the green duck tape all around the lid which speaks for itself.:lol:


Ha I know, what is this, Delta airlines?


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## ruready1000 (Nov 18, 2008)

*HONAM HSR Driving Video | KTX-Sancheon | From Gwangjusongjeong to Jeongeup*


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## Silver Swordsman (Nov 8, 2011)

I dunno... the 60fps plus shaky-cam kinda got me sick...

I still appreciate the video as an excellent source of documentation on the new line though.


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

Video on Suseo HSR line:


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

^^ Suseo KTX (Suseo High Speed Railway) 50 km of tunnel has been completed today.







The Suseo KTX is planned to open by June 2016. This is the situation on Suseo Terminal Station in May 2015:






The same at the end of 2014:


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

I know one of the points of this is to give high-speed rail access to eastern Seoul, but is it also supposed to help free up the Gyeongbu HSL? I know it's at capacity and then some.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

I think Gyeongbu HSL is not saturated (comparing with the Tokaido Shinkansen definitively not), but considering how big is Seoul and the Sudogwon, a new Terminal on the southeast of the capital is more convenient for Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa, Gangdong, and cities like Seongnam, Yongin, Hwaseong or Pyeongtaek.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^It is saturated; go look at post 273 on page 14. The infographic in it (courtesy of ruready1000) states in 2011 and 2012, the line was at just over 100% capacity, and I imagine it's gotten worse over the last 2 1/2 years. I'm sure it's worse on the Tokaido shinkansen, but the Gyeongbu HSL is still over capacity.


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the new link will actually help with congestion on the original line - the stretch between ~처난 (Cheonan) and 대전 (Daejeon) will be shared by the existing services and the new Gangnam services. Are there plans to double the high speed track in this section to help this?


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

aquaticko said:


> ^^It is saturated


But looking graphics I guess this is the status with the current trains, not the capacity of the HSL. 3~4 trains per hour on peak can't be said saturated.
:dunno:










The main problem on Gyeongbu HSL is the Daejeon and Daegu access shared with the other trains (Mugunghwa and Saemaul). The date for completion or opening of the High Speed dedicated tracks is the next July 20. 

대구 도심구간 (Daegu City Access) situation on March 2015 (Busan-bound train):





From 35:15






대전 도심구간 (Daejeon City Access) situation on April 2015 (Seoul-bound train):










Source: http://frdb2.wo.to/100.htm


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

That does kind of make the construction of the Suseo line a headscratcher. It seems like a lot of money to spend to just improve access for the eastern half of the capital.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

> 고속철 대전·대구 도심 전용구간 개통, KTX 서울~부산 운행시간 5분 빨라져
> 
> 경부고속철도 대전과 대구지역 도심구간 45.3㎞가 개통됐다. 이로써 1992년 6월 착공한 경부고속철도 건설사업이 23년 만에 마무리됐고 KTX 서울역~부산역 간 운행속도도 5분 빨라지게 됐다.
> 
> ...


http://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0200&key=20150801.22002210714

The urban sections in Daegu and Daejeon of the Gyeongbu KTX line have opened today, finally completing the Gyeongbu HSR line after 23 years of construction.

The section is 18.2 km-long in Daejeon and 27.1 km-long in Daegu. These new lines will cut the travel time from Seoul to Busan by 5 minutes.

More importantly, the KTX line will now be completely separate from the old Gyeongbu line. This means the bottlenecks in Daegu and Daejeon will be gone, greatly increasing the number of KTX travels a day (up to 240), and also beneficiating the trains using the old route (freight, saemaeul-ho...)


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Plans to bring the Gyeongbu HSR line to Incheon Station through Suin Line by 2019*

I just read about plans to bring the KTX (and train service overall...) to Incheon. Of course, there's already the KTX on the AREX Line, but Geoman station hasn't been used much by Incheon residents, because it requires them to go all the way North to Geoman, then enter Seoul and stopping at Seoul Station (if not Yongsan). Which makes going straight to Seoul or Gwangmyeong (by Subway Line 1) to take the KTX a better option for most Incheon residents.

The new plan will use the Suin Line : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suin_Line

Right now, the Suin line has two strategic and nodal termini : Buttf**k Nowhere (aka. Oido Station) and S**thole Station (aka Songdo station, which isn't even located in the new Songdo). However, as you all know, this is about to change. By December, the line will extend to Incheon Station. It still won't change the shape of the Earth, because the line will only go to Oido through Sinheung and Ansan. That is until 2017, as the line should finally extend to Suwon (hence the Su(won)-In(Cheon) name), and eventually merge with the Bundang line, all the way up to Seoul.

There have been plans this last year, and further confirmed this July, to use this line to bring the KTX to Incheon.

http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=2889909

http://enews.incheon.go.kr/main/php/search_view_new.html?idx=10469&section=12&section_sub=7

Here's an other video of the project with a nice map (at 1:12) of the project to explain it all





The KTX wouldn't actually use the entire Suin Line and not go all the way to Suwon (which doesn't have an HSR line, although it has KTX service on a conventional line). A 2.4km connection would be built between the Suin Line and the Gyeongbu HSR line a few kilometers west of Suwon.

On the map, the blue line is the future completed Suin Line, the green line is the Gyeongbu HSR line, and the orange line is the conventional rail line with KTX service in Suwon


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Not sure if is the best. I skeptic with the high speed trains running through commuter lines.

Geoman Station will have access from central Incheon next year with the opening of the Subway Line 2.

As for south Incheon citizens, the best option in my opinion is the construction of a direct line between Gwangmyeong KTX Station to Wolgot (already planned http://frdb2.wo.to/132.htm).

Don't understand this desperate idea to align the KTX through commuter railway. What Seoul needs IMO are more express and limited express commuter trains (like in Tokyo).


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Is that not the idea behind the GTX system, though? Those have relatively few planned stops and, if I remember correctly, will have a 200kmh top speed.

Also, I know that part of South Korea's long term HSR plans involve a line running along the far western side of the peninsula. Maybe this is kind of a precursor to that?


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

^^ But the GTX needs to construct full new lines. With regular express services and limited express services on commuter lines the tracks are already constructed, only needs four tracks sections or passing stations. The transfer between local and express trains I think will be faster than GTX. :dunno:


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Kojects jus reported today on this project



> KTXs have been operating in the Incheon area via the airport railroad for over 2 years now, but soon it may be even easier for those living in the southern part of the city as well as parts of Gyeonggi-do to take the KTX.
> 
> At the beginning of July, the Ministry and Land Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced that they were investigating the possibility of Suwon and Songdo KTX services after initial feasibility studies came back with a business case of 1.23 and 1.18 respectively according to Yonhap News. Things are looking promising for the proposal and will go into planning stages later this year with an aim to start construction in the second half of next year.
> 
> ...


http://kojects.com/2015/08/12/ktxs-from-songdo-and-suwon-stations/

It also mentions the connection from the Suseo line to Suwon, truly putting Suwon on the KTX map


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## Gusiluz (Apr 4, 2013)

*Ridership 2004/2014*



Source for the number of passengers per line: National Bureau of Statistics South Korea.
Source for the number of passengers per km: STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF RAILROAD 2015. Here are many statistics (1,671 pages) on railway in Korea.
Data from both sources are somewhat different.
Source for calculating the Passenger load factor: Performance and efficiency of high-speed rail systems (page 22).

Occupancy rate (passengers / seats) is always much higher than the Use rate or Passenger load factor (passengers * km / seats * km). In commuter lines it is normal to have occupations 500% depending on the number of passengers using every seat.
For example, in 2012 there were 52 million KTX passengers to 55.6 million seats (95%), and 14.1 billions of passengers*km to 22.7 billions seats*km (62%).

In 2014 every passenger had an average of 259 km (14.7 * 1000 / 56.9).


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

http://www.molit.go.kr/USR/mof_poli...0&s_category=&p_category=&lcmspage=249&id=457

Current construction status of the 3 stations of the Sudogweon (ie. Suseo) High Speed Rail :

*Suseo (in Gangnam-gu, Seoul)*



*Dongtan (in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do)*



*Jijae (in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do)*



Source for all pictures : http://blog.naver.com/montana74/220471312273


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Hyundai Rotem rolled out on October 20th in Changwon the first trainset that will be used on the Suseo HSR line









http://www.etnews.com/20151020000182

Trains will have 10 cars, max out at 330km/h and be able to carry 440 people.

For reminder, the Suseo HSR line is due to open in mid-2016.









http://www.molit.go.kr/USR/mof_poli...0&s_category=&p_category=&lcmspage=249&id=457


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

So does the Suseo KTX continue past Pyeongtaek onto the Gyeongbu/Honam HSL's, then? I kinda figured it did, but I'm not sure. Also, is the Gyeongbu HSL tracked enough to allow both a Suseo and Gyeongbu KTX to join one another at speed in the same direction? That'd be pretty cool to see, if so.


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## DaeguDuke (Jul 11, 2012)

Hmmm, will the trains be able to run at 330km/h on the Gyeongbu HS line? Current KTX train sets max out at 305km/h right?


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

DaeguDuke said:


> Hmmm, will the trains be able to run at 330km/h on the Gyeongbu HS line? Current KTX train sets max out at 305km/h right?


Maybe they're just building the Suseo HSL to 330kmh spec, although I don't know what the point would be considering how short it is, unless the Gyeongbu HSL will be upgraded, too. I'd not be surprised if it was going to be, what with the upcoming, much-faster HEMU-430x based units coming soon.


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## doc7austin (Jun 24, 2012)

Travelling with KTX Train No. 660 between Iksan and Seoul Yongsan Station in First Class:
Train No. 660 travels on the classic Honam Line (not Honam HSR) and joining the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway near Seodaejeon.
The KTX trains calls at Nonsan, Gyeryong, Seodaejeon, Osong, and Gwangmyeong.
KTX trains are operated by Korail. A Class 110000 trainset (111152) is used for this trip and was built by Hyundai Rotem.












































































































































Video of the journey:








Here is the direct link to the video, in case it does not load:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbQm7DxzQdk



Enjoy!


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Construction status update of the Suseo KTX station, scheduled for completion in late June (and opening of the line in August) :



http://blog.naver.com/hun2014102/220622816607


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

*HEMU-250*

We've heard references to a "mid-speed", ~250kmh rolling stock fitting between the ITX-Saemaul and KTX trains, but this is the only information I've found about it:

Hyundai Rotem, Korail at odds over price of high-speed train

In sum, Korail started a bid for new trains for the Busan-Masan line (seems awfully short for high-speed service), for which Rotem was predictably the only bidder. Despite undercutting Korail's bid by 10%, Rotem's offer was still considered too expensive. In truth, little though I know about rolling stock procurement, $4 billion does seem like a lot for 30 trainsets, but just the same, it's odd that Rotem's tender wasn't accepted, considering how things usually go with Korail.

Anyway, a model of the train. Looks alright, and I'm glad to see another new "face" coming to South Korea's rails:


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Contrasted with Koreans, in brief:

The 84 cars EMU-250 will be transformed in 12 7-car trains (commonly Saemaul or Mugunghwa trains are formed by 7 cars) or 14 6-car trains (ITX Saemaul EMU-150 style).

Considering the relations, the 14 6-car trains is the most feasible:



> Korail plans to use the EMUs on routes with a maximum operating speed of 200 km/h, including Cheongnyangni – Busan (48), Uijeongbu – Iksan (24) and Icheon – Mungyeong (12). In contrast to the KTX-Sancheon high speed trainsets, the EMU-250 will be optimised for routes where high passenger capacity and rapid acceleration and braking between relatively closely-spaced stations are more important than maximum speed.


http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/korail-orders-260-kmh-emus.html

Cheongnyangni – Busan (48) = 8 trains
Uijeongbu – Iksan (24) = 4 trains
Icheon – Mungyeong (12) = 2 trains

The Cheongnyangni – Busan could be possible with passing trains through the GTX but :dunno: The C Line project from Uijeongbu Cheongnyangni and Geumjeong (Gyeongbu Classic, Line 1 and Line 4):









http://cafe.daum.net/kicha/ANj/42476

Look at 삼성 (Samseong) the other GTX line to 수서 (Suseo). Well, the Suseo HSL tunnel are ready to follow the Samseong - Seoul Station route (GTX A-Line).

The Uijeongbu – Iksan and Icheon – Mungyeong relations looks weird. The first needs the GTX ^^ or Subway Line 1 through service OR an updated Gyooe Line and then through Daegok–Sosa–Wonsi Line all the way to Iksan.









http://frdb.wo.to/

Current status: stopped

The Icheon - Mungyeong (Jungbu Naeryuk Line) is under construction, Icheon is on the new Gyeonggang Line (Pangyo - Yeoju) inaugurated this summer. 94 kilometers are under construction with Icheon - Chungju (54 km) scheduled opening by 2019 and Chungju - Mungyeong (40 km) by 2021.









https://namu.wiki/w/중부내륙선


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

(Slightly cleaned-up Google Translate)



> *Mokpo ~ Jeju submarine tunnel is promoted*
> 
> 2017.03.25 00:20:19
> 
> ...


So, it sounds positive, as long as the central government can be persuaded. It's as I'd thought of it--no, it may not be financially profitable for a very very long time, but as a type of economic stimulus and (to put it unkindly) vanity project for Korean construction and engineering companies, it's a great value, and there are of course environmental benefits from reducing flights on the world's busiest air route, as well.

Notably, there's no estimated timeframe for construction or completion.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

The pilot operation of the bilevel KTX will begin this coming summer. 






KBS News 19-04-2017


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Destruction of new Seoul Station and underground Seoul Station - Noryangjin Station section*

A new project has been proposed. A very big project if I might say. As mentioned, the entire Seoul Station would be rebuilt underground. As part of the project:

- The " Modern" Seoul Station would be demolished (see picture of the current station)








http://alog.auric.or.kr/JC/Post/b66c0a54-1626-4f5d-830a-4419e792ece5.aspx

It's big but it's a bit of a mess with various parts. Nothing to be ashamed of, but there is certainly an argument for rebuilding it, underground or not

- All the lines would be rebuilt underground, in a grid pattern, instead of the current layout which is a bit of a mess.
- It would allow for the addition of new lines, such as the Shinbundang line (late 2020s), Shinansan line (line 2020s), GTX A (2023), (mid 2020s), as well as the existing AREX, Gyeongui-Jungang, KTX, regular train lines. Subway lines 1 and 4 would stay where they are currently, slight East of the other tracks.
- The railroads would then be rebuilt underground for the entire Seoul Station - Noryangjin station section (including Yongsan station). The existing overground section would then be replaced by a park, as has been the case recently for the Gyeongui Line Forest Park for example, although that new park would be wider. This project is also related to the Yongsan US garrison park transformation, which should be completed by 2027.

Sounds very interesting, although many questions remain regarding feasibility and financing










http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/05/13/2017051300180.html


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Hyundai Rotem presented the prototype or something similar of EMU-250, a new High Speed Train for Korea. All the photos:

http://blog.naver.com/npbs1122/221012194470










:cheers:


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Many more photos on the link!

I think they're very attractive, and I'm loving that blue-gray exterior color. Here's to hoping they keep that for production!

At the same time, I see that they're just doing extending steps from the doors to the platforms, when really, Korail should begin the process of raising their platforms for level boarding. Expensive, yes, but totally worth it for ease of use, especially for the elderly and disabled.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Gangneung Station*

Here's a picture from Gangneung Station, currently being rebuilt ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. I was actually there in mid-July. It's an interesting shape and structure. Also, the new station will be over the tracks, so it's easier to access from the North side (near where the venues will be located). The neighborhood surrounding the station is really not so great though. Since the station was previously pretty much abandoned or freight only, there were only hardware stores, storage facilities or factories around the station. And I didn't see much construction around the station, so we'll see if they get more high-end dining and shopping options.

The new station will open in December.

Mostly unrelated news, but I'll probably go see the Olympics myself. Don't know if I'll go to Pyeongchang (snow) or Gangneung (ice) yet. I'll keep you posted.









http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=001&aid=0009503494


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

I'd been wondering about the station in Gangneung. The current station is perfectly located in the middle of the city, near the coast. Even if it wasn't great prior to this redesign, it certainly has a lot of potential to be a locus for center city development. 

From what I'd read about the line to Pyeongchang and the east coast, there is/was a plan for a Gangneung South station, which would be well outside the city in Gujeong-myeon. Maybe that will be additional to this redesigned station in the city center. 

I'm not sure if the new Donghae line (single-tracked and non-electrified for now, currently built up to Yeongdeok, immediately north of Pohang) will be built into Gangneung station or Nam-Gangneung station, but transfers between the two will hopefully be easy (maybe a bus shuttle between the two if Nam-Gangneung station is built?). In any case, I'm glad that the east coast is finally getting some rail love .


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> I'd been wondering about the station in Gangneung. The current station is perfectly located in the middle of the city, near the coast. Even if it wasn't great prior to this redesign, it certainly has a lot of potential to be a locus for center city development.
> 
> From what I'd read about the line to Pyeongchang and the east coast, there is/was a plan for a Gangneung South station, which would be well outside the city in Gujeong-myeon. Maybe that will be additional to this redesigned station in the city center.
> 
> I'm not sure if the new Donghae line (single-tracked and non-electrified for now, currently built up to Yeongdeok, immediately north of Pohang) will be built into Gangneung station or Nam-Gangneung station, but transfers between the two will hopefully be easy (maybe a bus shuttle between the two if Nam-Gangneung station is built?). In any case, I'm glad that the east coast is finally getting some rail love .



Yes, there are plans for a small stadium named South Gangneung located, well, South of Gangeung. I haven't found many updates, but from what I understand, the small station is in fact getting built ahead of the opening of the railroad. Or at least they're building the terrain around it to actually open this station a few years down the road when the Donghae Line gets completely built and the demand increases.


When looking at the Gyeonggang Line Westward to Wonju (and up to Seoul for the initial service, althouth the section between Cheongnyangni and West Wonju is actually part of the Jungang Line, but who cares), it doesn't make much sense having the tracks loop south of the city and build a station in the middle of nowhere.


But the purpose of this station is different, and you had the right idea. The big problem is that the current Gangeung station is a terminus station on the North-South Donghae line. So to connect the Gyeonggang and the Donghae line, you would have to demolish parts of the city to make way for the new rail tracks. Which is extremely costly and time consuming. Also, and although this was probably not the key factor, the current alignment has tracks entering the station from the West. So any connection to the Gyenggang line would have been on the East, with the need to loop back to the West on the northern part of town (the one which has the best sights and where building railroads is the most damaging to the environment). So such a connection would have been extremely costly, hardly feasible, not good for the environment, and would have not been effective with a huge "S" pattern (or "?" pattern) to connect the line. So instead, they will have the Donghae line and Gyeonggang Line connect more "naturally" to the south, by passing Gangneung and with a through station at South Gangeung instead.


As we discussed on another thread, I think this is a sensible option. There is less than 3 kilometers as the crow flies between South Gangneung Station and the actual urban area of the city, so it won't require building huge roads, crazy bus transfers or expensive taxi fares (unlike say, New Ulsan or new Pohang). I think an important factor is that the area around the new station and between the station and the town center is fairly flat, the the urban area could be filled up between these two.


Right now, I don't really know if they're really operate the station right away though. There will be no need for it during the Olympics, and the Donghae line (at least the section connected to Gangeung) only extends to Samcheok. As you said, the Donghae line will in the end reach all the way to Pohang (and actually all the way to Masan), so at that time the station will probably truly become useful.













https://namu.wiki/w/남강릉역


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## inno4321 (Dec 10, 2007)

yesterday S Korea national fund success to take over "LONDON~PARIS" High speed EURO STAR railway's management right (HS1: 109㎞ length ):lol:
http://news.mk.co.kr/newsRead.php?year=2017&no=576721


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## Slagathor (Jul 29, 2007)

Seems like a risky move with Brexit just around the corner in March 2019. I'm glad it's not _my_ pension they're gambling with.

That said: I, for one, welcome our new Korean overlords.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

*Gyeonggang KTX*

MOLIT released a cab-view of the Gyeonggang High Speed Line between Gangneung and Wonju.

The "Olympic Line" will connect Incheon Airport with Pyeongchang and Gangneung via the Jungang Line.

The following video was shot between Gangneung and Manjong Station (closest to Wonju city). 






The new 120km line starts at Seowonju (link with Jungang Line) with stations in Manjong (Wonju), Hoengseong, Dunnae, Pyeongchang, Jinbu(Odaesan) and Gangneung.

http://frdb.wo.to/ / https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/경강선


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Only thing I don't understand is kind of a repeat of prior confusions viz a vis Korean rail development, i.e., the distance of stations from major attractions and population centers. 

The closest station to the main Olympics site is 10-15km away, in Jinbu-myeon, despite there being plenty of flat, open land to build on near the Olympics (which also would've been far closer to the population center of Daegwallyeong-myeon). The station that a lot of uninformed foreigners will use to get to the Pyeongchang Olympics--Pyeongchang Station--is in the middle of nowhere, with only SNU's Pyeongchang campus within walking distance. 

The point of a train is supposed to be that it drops you off near centers of activity so that you can walk or bike to whatever it is your final destination is. Sticking a bus or taxi ride on that "last mile" really seems to defeat the point, and yet we see this same scenario playing out at just about every opportunity in rail development in South Korea--with a notable, new, happy exception to being this new line's eastern terminus, in downtown Gangneung.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Seems this is a common issue (or mistake) also committed by Chinese and Taiwanese HSR builders.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> ^^Only thing I don't understand is kind of a repeat of prior confusions viz a vis Korean rail development, i.e., the distance of stations from major attractions and population centers.
> 
> The closest station to the main Olympics site is 10-15km away, in Jinbu-myeon, despite there being plenty of flat, open land to build on near the Olympics (which also would've been far closer to the population center of Daegwallyeong-myeon). The station that a lot of uninformed foreigners will use to get to the Pyeongchang Olympics--Pyeongchang Station--is in the middle of nowhere, with only SNU's Pyeongchang campus within walking distance.
> 
> The point of a train is supposed to be that it drops you off near centers of activity so that you can walk or bike to whatever it is your final destination is. Sticking a bus or taxi ride on that "last mile" really seems to defeat the point, and yet we see this same scenario playing out at just about every opportunity in rail development in South Korea--with a notable, new, happy exception to being this new line's eastern terminus, in downtown Gangneung.




I agree that it's unfortunate that there will be no Daegwanryeong / Hoenggye / Alpensia (whatever you want to call it) station. However, I'd be a little less harsh on the location of Korean stations. I don't think there's any country that's perfect in this regard. And Korea is rugged, very dense (which mean there's a huge cost difference between building railroads in plains and in urban areas / valleys / mountains), and unlike Japan or Taiwan, is not built across a straight line, which makes rail network more complex and less efficient.


One good example is the Gyeongbu HSR segment between Daegu and Busan. The line makes a significant detour to reach the cities of Gyeongju and Ulsan. And yet, both New Gyeongju Station and New Ulsan station are located a bit far away from the cities in sparsely populated areas. Which means that it's easy to criticize the end result. But what were the alternatives:
- Go straight from Daegu to Busan. That would mean picking up no passengers along the way and reducing the overall use of the line. You could always make a stop at Miryang, which is a small city with little significance. In the end, going straight would only cut about 10 minutes on the Daegu - Busan route, and you wouldn't have all the traffic coming from the traffic from the huge industrial city of Ulsan, and from the touristic city of Gyeongju (and indirectly, Pohang). Plus, since there is still some traffic on the Gyeongju conventional line around Miryang with decent service, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to diversify destinations
- Go all the way to Gyeongju and Ulsan centers along the East Sea. I guess you could make it to Ulsan (Taehwagang station) with some line realignment, which is quite costly in urbanized area, but for Gyeongju, it would have been a nightmare. Gyeongju Station has a North-South orientation, and the Gyeongbu HSR would have needed to loop all the way around Gyeongju and its historical area. This would have been hugely costly, time-consuming, and the added convenient would have lengthened the route by I'd say around 15 minutes. Tough to justify it.


And we have similar issues going on on the Gyeonggang Line as well. Many tough calls to make on the line.
-Gangneung / South Gangneung Station. The current station is a terminus station, and a single track links to the area near the future South Gangneung Station which is scheduled to link the Gyeonggang and Donghae Central Line (through Yeongdong Line, it's a bit of a mess what will happen once the full line is completed). You could have tried and build through the city to turn Gangneung Station into a through station, but with huge land reclamation and environmental costs, and added transit time.
-The Daegwanryeong / Hoenggye / Alpensia was I think planned at some point, but they decided to build a huge tunnel from Jinbu to Gangneung. Since the Daegwanryeong plateau is at a higher elevation point, it would have probably necessitated an underground station and huge costs. Also, the station would have been far enough from Alpensia / Yongpyeong that travelers would have needed to take a shuttle anyway. I agree that Daegwanryeong is more "urban" than Jinbu (Olympic site, ski resorts, more plains), but it's still a very small town. It would have cost a huge amount of money for something that will truly be useful for two weeks, and which would have hardly been economical afterwards in the long run. And then you have the problem of adding stations everywhere and increasing transit time some more. So in any case it was probably an either/or situation. Build the slightly less well located station of Jinbu, or the way more expensive one at Daegwanryeong which would only have made a huge difference for 2 weeks. And in any case, Daegwanryeong will only host a small portion of the games. All the ice events are in Gangneung, and Jongseon (downhill, Super G) as well as Phoenix Park (freestyle skiing, snowboard) have quite a few events as well.
- Dunnae / Pyeongchang Stations: one serves WelliHilly Resort and the other one Phoenix Park + SNU Pyeongchang. I agree it's one station too many, don't know which one to cut though. And yes, it would have probably made more sense to name Jinbu Station "Pyeongchang", I don't know what went through their mind.
- Hoengseong Station: It's small, but I mean it's near the County Office, I think we can let this one be.
- Manjong Station: aka North Wonju Station. Another tough call. With the track alignment at Wonju Station, it would have been difficult going through the old station (long detour + costly). West Wonju is actually quite far from the city center, unlike Manjong, so Manjong actually makes more sense, I think it's a good station, provided then they don't have most of the trains also stop at West Wonju.


But there are still some many questions regarding the overall services they will provide. The line is not designed for KTX, unlike what was advertised. They will discontinue most KTX service after the Olympics. But we don't really know if they will simply reduce the service, or have it replaced by ITX service. After 2020, EMU 250 will enter into service and the problem will be solved. By then Korail has been slow to release much information. Gangwon people won't like it but if the Osong-Pyeongtaek section can handle it, I'd rather have trains used on the Gyeongbu / Honam HSR lines rather than use KTX just for the sake on it, operating on a line with limited capacity at slow speed. And wait until 2020 for decent service.


The services which will be proposed during/after the Olympics also have many question marks. Incheon Airport station will only operate for the Olympics, but then, the big issue is to see if the base station in Seoul should be Seoul, Yongsan, or Cheongyangni (and even Mangu). Gangwon politicians want it to be Seoul Station because it generates more traffic, but using the very slow Jungang Line section with high-speed trains will be a mess. And since everyone wants to redevelop North-East Seoul, and that Cheongyangni will get GTX and Suseo KTX, I think that in the long term it makes sense to start most trains at Cheongyangni. Also, what about the subway section of the Jungang Line? How often will the high-speed trains stop? Will (Should) there be stops at Yangpyeong or other stations? The overall timetable during/after the Olympics is still unclear.


Then there are long term questions. I touched on the EMU 250 but there are also new train projects to join the fleet: EMU 300, and EMU 180, as well as the realigned Jungang Line (section south from Wonju going to Andong/Gyeongju)and the Donghae Central Line which will bring new connections (which is both an opportunity and a challenge) to the line.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^My main issue in this particular case is the station naming issue. They're going to have a lot of upset tourists, going to the wrong station for the Olympics, unless they _really_ advertise the route so people know where to go for all the events, but I suppose that's more an issue for the Olympics advertisers than Korail.

On the bigger issue of station location, I still think that it would've been worth it to, whenever possible, put HSR stations in or at least near city stations. It just seems to me that there was little to no effort to integrate high speed rail in Korea with the rest of either public transit services or urban fabric. 

Even in Taiwan, they've built a number of lines to integrate THSR into city transit networks, going so far as to build rail lines which connect more remote THSR stations to city centers--the Shalun and Liujia spur lines. I'd love to see some kind of service, even a BRT, which connects all of the rail stations in Gyeongju and Wonju, so that people can navigate Korea's dense, older city centers on foot, and then travel to newer areas around rail stations with public transit. 

It would just be a shame to see South Korea's massive investments in the rail network not pay off because stations are so far from city centers. As I'd mentioned elsewhere, the brand-new from the ground up, greenfield Inno cities developments don't even seem to be located near these important investments, either; e.g., Wonju's is basically on the opposite side of the city from Seowonju, Namwonju, or Manjong stations. Not designing these projects to leverage any of the transportation improvements made possible by high-quality rail service just seems like a huge and unnecessary waste.


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## Gusiluz (Apr 4, 2013)

*Passengers 2004/2016*

We already have the data of the number of passengers in the different HSR of Korea, although I did not find the Passengers.km, which are the most significant.
If you do not know the number of passengers.km you can not know the average distance in km, which has dropped significantly over the years.

Note that the "Ocupación" (occupation) shows the number of passengers divided by the number of seats, so it can exceed 100%. In a commuter line you can reach much higher rates.
On the other hand the "Aprovechamiento" (use) is the result of dividing the Passengers.km between the seats.km which really indicates what % of seats have been occupied during the whole journey. In HST the maximum would be 100% if all the seats were occupied during the whole journey.


The 2016 data come from this page, but I can not find the Passengers.km.


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## doc7austin (Jun 24, 2012)

I was travelling with the South Korean high-speed train KTX from Seoul Yongsan to Iksan via Gyeongbu High-Speed Railway (Seoul - Busan) and the Honam High-Speed Railway (Osong - Mokpo).
Train is operated by a KTX-Sancheon class 110000, built by Hyundai Rotem; 
The journey takes just 1 hour and 6 minutes to cover 240 kilometers between Seoul and Iksan.





























































































Full video of the journey:








Enjoy!


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Opening of the Gyeonggang Line*

Also known as the Wonju-Gangneung or Seoul-Gangneung Line, the Gyeonggang Line will improve transportation to the Gangwon province, and be a key asset for the Olympics.

The line opened this morning. The line puts Gangneung City 114 minutes away from Seoul Station, and 86 minutes away from Cheongnyangni Station in eastern Seoul. Jinbu and Pyeongchang station, which will be the base for the snow events at the Olympics, will be reached even quicker.

Eastbound trains depart from Seoul, Cheongnyangni or Sangbong Station, and use the refurbished Jungang Line until Seowonju Station, which is the beginning point of the actual Gyeonggang Line, which is 118 kilometers long.

The full project is for the Gyeonggang Line to be extended to Incheon, bypassing Seoul by the pass, using the Gyeonggang Line section of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, and the Wolgyo-Pangyo and Yeoju-Wonju lines, still under planning.
























http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2017/12/22/0200000000AKR20171222031800062.HTML?input=1195m

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20171222/87866811/2

http://www.etnews.com/20171222000036


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Glad to see this project come to fruition; I've always wanted to visit Gangneung, and it'll be that much easier now. Except....

Another entirely new rail service, new stations, _without_ level boarding platforms. _Why??_


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## cheehg (Jan 5, 2018)

I think if you build a 350km/h line you have to avoid to go to city center for most of the bypass cities. The terminals in Seoul and Busan should be in the center. So you won’t have the problem to cut the travel time from Seoul to Busan. France is same. You can build connection lines to bring the service to the city center. Now Korea hsr is slow from Seoul to Busan compare to the same speed lines in other countries because they must slow down and stop in the two intermediate sections and stations in Daegu and Daejeon. Yes it is convenient for those two cities but more than half of the train passengers are from Busan so they have to waste their time to slow down. Well it is not a big problem for Korea because it’s a small country. 10-15 minuets more for Busan is not a deal breaker. For big country it is a problem if they slow down in many sections. You have to find the compromise ground.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Cleaned-up Google translation:



> *"Moonlight Inland Railway" Construction* (Ko.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Quite a promising development; this has been a massive hole in SK's rail infrastructure; glad to see it moving ahead.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> Cleaned-up Google translation:
> 
> 
> 
> Quite a promising development; this has been a massive hole in SK's rail infrastructure; glad to see it moving ahead.




Interesting, but also expensive. I understand the political importance of linking the Southwest and Southeast of the countries (political rivals), as well as the economic rationale of linking Daegu and Gwangju, but this will come at a big cost.


The line design will not bring Gwangju closer to Daejeon or Busan, and the railroad will be set in the barely inhabited regions around the Sobaek mountains, it won't have very significant through station.


Also, another important project is the Gyeongjeon Line, which links Busan to Gwangju. The line is still very slow, but within a couple of years, the opening of the Busan-Changwon section, the electrification of the Jinju-Gwangyang section will bring Gwangju closer to the more important city of Busan (as well as significant industrial cities such as Changwon, Suncheon, Gwangwang).


So I'm a bit afraid that for its important costs, the Daegu-Gwangju line will bring limited benefits. This is definitely a project that makes sense in many ways, but I don't think it should be the top priority (which it is not, as this project is still in its planning phase).


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

^^Well, if it were me, a dedicated HSL from Busan to Gwangju would come first, but that would be (I think) an even bigger project, and at least this way, service is being brought to (admittedly small) communities that don't currently have any at all. 

However, at least this line does bring Gwangju and Daegu closer together. I'd think a shortcut to better Gwangju-Busan service would be to increase speeds on the last bit of the traditional Gyeongbu line, from Daegu to Busan via Miryang, and thus route people from Daegu over this new Gwangju-Daegu line.

Potentially better access to the tourist areas along the line, e.g. Haeinsa and the various national parks, is another benefit.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Slightly older piece of news:


> *Incheon Airport KTX service suspended*
> 
> 10 June 2018
> 
> ...


I'm honestly quite surprised by this. Direct high-speed service to Incheon Int'l Airport seems like a natural and obvious evolution of KTX services nationally, given that no other airport in the country has nearly the same level of facilities or international connectivity.

However, I have to wonder if it's due to the fact that any KTX service currently heading towards the airport must head first through all of Seoul to take the AREX line from Seoul station. Maybe with the opening of the Suin line--along with the Gyeongbu KTX line quadrupling from Pyeongtaek to Osong--allowing more direct and faster travel to the airport from the rest of the country in a few years' time, Korail will resume this service.

The only thing is, this makes me think that the ultimate solution would've been to put a rail line on Incheon Bridge from Songdo to the airport...but that's basically guaranteed to remain forever a fantasy.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> Slightly older piece of news:
> 
> 
> I'm honestly quite surprised by this. Direct high-speed service to Incheon Int'l Airport seems like a natural and obvious evolution of KTX services nationally, given that no other airport in the country has nearly the same level of facilities or international connectivity.
> ...




I think the main reason is... all of the above. The decision to discontinue the service on such short notice without providing alternatives is probably not ideal, but the overall demand for the service was indeed low, so I understand why it was discontinued after the Olympics.


The first thing is that people at the airport wanting to take the train are, most of them, travelers. The vast majority of them want to go to Seoul, and a significant minority to Jeju, where there is of course no rail service. Among travelers, I think very few people arrive at Incheon Int'l and then board a train directly to one of the main provincial cities (Busan, Gwangju, Daegu, Daejeon). None of them are really touristic, except for Busan. However, for Asian tourists, direct service to Busan already exists, and in most cases, people who visit Busan also take a few days to visit the capital as well, so they would probably stop at Seoul either way. Among the local population, the Yeongjong island is sparsely populated, almost entirely made up of people whose work is related to the airport.


The service would have actually made more sense for Incheon residents, who could board the KTX at Geomam station. However, even for them, it wasn't so useful either, for a couple of reasons:
- A significant portion of the Incheon population works in or near Seoul, so it may actually make more sense for them to board trains in Seoul than Incheon
- Even for the population actually living and working in Incheon, except for people living directly near Cheongna or Incheon Subway Line 2, it was more convenient for many people to take Seoul Subway Line 1 (or a bus) and go to Yongsan/Seoul station (or even Gwangmyeong), especially for people who live in the Southern or Eastern part of Incheon
- The overall line was not very efficient. From the airport, the line goes slightly North-East, then due East, loops back through Seoul Stn, Yongsan, Noryangjin, Yeongdeungpo to the South-West, and then turns back to the South-West past Guro Station. This is very inefficient. As the crow flies, the distance between Geomam and Guro is 20km. By rail, it is 44.2 (32.5 on AREX and 11.7 on Gyeongbu), and goes through the very slow central sections of Seoul. I don't really think that it was poor planning. It's just that the legacy gyeongbu and gyeongui line were set this way, and that's also due to the overall topography of the area. However, for the Arex line, I often wonder why the train goes so slow. The line is only 60km from Incheon to Seoul, but it takes about the same time to go there by KTX compared to the Arex Express. I think the line wasn't really designed for KTX initially, so whether it's alignment, capacity or infrastructure, trains go slowly. Combine the inefficient track route with the low speed, and it's barely efficient.
- Finally, and this is a problem for many train services around the world... the frequency of service. It's very difficult to operate high-speed trains with a frequency of less than one per hour. I understand why the overall service was limited: the demand was low, and the seats didn't fill. But if the frequency drops below a certain level, it's becoming difficult psychologically for people to consider the KTX as a good service for them, as every time they want to take it, they would need to plan ahead and make sure there's a train at the hour they want to take it (which was rarely the case). It's even more the case when you're talking about tourists or business customers, who are very time sensitive. What is the point of having a KTX service if when you want to take it, you have to wait for a long time at the station.


So there you have it... I talked into way more details than I intended to.


Now on to the future. The budget for the junctions of the KTX and Suin Line has been allocated a couple of week ago, as well as the junction between the Gyeongbu and Gyeongbu HSR at Jije station, which means that construction will start this year and be completed in 2021 (let's round it up to 2022). At that time, we will have true KTX service in Incheon (Songdo station) and Suwon (thanks to the junction at the Jije station).


This is good, but will create the bottleneck of the Gyeongbu HSR line, at least in the Osong-Pyeongtaek section. One thing that has not been mentioned by the government but which will also probably be a factor is that have been placed for EMU 250 trains, so KTX currently assigned to the Gyeonggang Line (and maybe on KTX service to cities like Jinju, Yeosu or Pohang) may have to be reassigned when EMU 250 are introduced for these secondary lines, in a couple of years. So there will definitely be a line saturation in a few years. There is a plan for doubling the Osong-Pyeongtaek line, but right now the opening target is 2023, and it's still in the planning phase, so it will probably not happen until 2025. The latest plan is to build the line underground, because eminent domain is costly, and to bypass Cheonan station. But it might still change.


As for the bridge from the airport to the city via Incheon Bridge, I think that it's unlikely. The SimsCity mayor in me want all projects to get built, but it would be extremely costly (long distance over the sea) and face the same demand problems. One alternative would be to have KTX trains go through Songdo station all the way to near Incheon station, and build a short tunnel to the southeastern tip of Yeongjong Island. It won't solve the demand issue, and I don't know if it's feasible but it looks a bit less expensive to me with the Suin Line better used. I still think it's extremely unlikely to happen.


I feel like talking about the Suseo-Gwangju line, the Donghae line, the Gyeongjeon line, as well as a Sejong KTX station, but that'll take forever. So I'll stop right now.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

> *Korail to receive distributed power E320 EMUs in 2019*
> 
> 19/9/18
> 
> ...


Apparently, these EMU's will be rolling out sooner than I'd expected; I thought we'd not be seeing the 320's until 2021, at the earliest. That's good news, as the mainstay KTX-I's are, after all, 25-year-old designs. It sounds like these sets are purely designed for the test and commission phase, as I can't otherwise imagine an order of *two* sets for an operator as big as Korail. I do have to wonder if the top speeds for the KTX will in fact be increased to 320kmh, or if that's just the potential top operating speed.

Needless to say, I'm excited to see these things running on the rails!


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## itfcfan (Jan 12, 2013)

aquaticko said:


> Slightly older piece of news:
> 
> 
> I'm honestly quite surprised by this. Direct high-speed service to Incheon Int'l Airport seems like a natural and obvious evolution of KTX services nationally, given that no other airport in the country has nearly the same level of facilities or international connectivity.
> ...


I wanted to use KTX from Incheon Airport when I went to Korea to visit relatives in Daejeon. The low frequencies of the KTX from Incheon Airport prevented me from doing so. If the KTX was at least hourly from ICN to the line to Daejeon/Busan I would have used it, but (from memory) the service was very irregular with 3/4 hour gaps. So I used the AREX line to Seoul and changed there. If the KTX frequency was at least hourly to/from ICN airport then I would have waited at ICN - the idea of just getting on a single train from ICN all the way to Daejeon was very appealing.

My take is there wasn't really appetite to do this from the infrastructure owners. The line is probably simpler to run as just AREX services. The KTX services we introduced to the line later than planned and the schedule only seemed like a token effort.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Not exactly sure this counts as high-speed rail, because I don't know what kind of service the line will receive yet, but the Taehwagang Station (the old Ulsan station) is getting rebuilt after 26 years, to coordinate with the realignment of the Donghae Line.

Construction has just begun, and is scheduled to be completed in 2020.










http://www.fnnews.com/news/201810151546574863


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

> Korail to receive distributed power* E320* EMUs in 2019


May have to change that moniker (if they're looking at potential foreign sales), seems too similar to the Siemens product...
https://www.siemens.com/press/en/feature/2014/mobility/2014-12-eurostar.php


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

*KTX derails on the Olympic HSL*

A KTX bullet train en route to Seoul derailed shortly after departing from Gangneung with 198 passengers aboard Saturday. Train derailed while approaching Jinbu Station at around 7:35 a.m. It was running at around 103 kph.





























https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181208001152320


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Oh Korea, when will you learn that lining everything up to maximize profit--by cutting safety/maintenance staff, or subcontracting everything out, or cutting corners in construction--is not the way to run everything?

Derailment, caused by what appears to this layperson's eyes to be subsidence, on a brand-new flagship high-speed line? Not impressive; we can only be thankful that no one was seriously hurt.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

8/12:


> ...the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the operator of the train, said the accident seems to be attributable to a rail problem caused by freezing weather.
> 
> ...It was running at about 103 kph, approaching Jinbu Station.


https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181208001154320


10/12:


> ... A joint team of transport ministry and KORAIL officials has tentatively concluded after investigating the site that an error in the railroad switch system that controls the tracks likely caused the derailment...


https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181210000251320

Animation:


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## sylodon (Sep 5, 2004)

At least there were no serious casualties. They should conduct a thorough investigation by a neutral third party.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*EMU 250 and EMU 300 deployment*

Korail has recently outlined its new deployment plan for the EMU 250 and EMU 300 trains.

Korean KTX-I trains, based on French technology, have now reached more than half of their service life, and will soon need to be replaced.

Korail is currently planning the introduction of EMU 300 (also referred to as EMU 320) and EMU 250.

EMU 300 are multiple-unit trains which will replace the KTX-1, which relies on power cars. Multiple-unit trains are able to accelerate and brake faster than power cars (which are basically locomotives). EMU 300 will have 8 cars and can run up to 320kph, but in commercial conditions, would reach 300kph. 2 units have been purchased already and will undergo tests from next year, with the hope of introducing commercial service from 2021. Ultimately, if everything goes well, EMU 300 are expected to slowly replace KTX-I and KTX-Sancheon over the next decade or so.

As for EMU 250 (with 6 cars), they can reach up to 260kph, and will operate at a commercial speed of around 200kph. The first units will be completed this August, and will then undergo tests to become commercial service by the end of next year. In total, 19 trainsets will be supplied and operate on the currently under construction, Gyeongjeon Line (Busan to Masan), Gyeonggang Line (Seoul to Gangneung), and the Seohae Line (West coast, currently U/C). KTX currently running on the Gyeonggang Line would then be reaffected to the main Honam or Gyeongbu Lines.

In related news, Korail has also ordered (back in January) 34 train sets of EMU150 trains, also known as ITX, to operate on traditional lines.










http://go.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20190626019001

http://biz.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2019/06/23/2019062300032.html


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

I'm afraid Korea's probably missed its window of opportunity viz a vis exporting its HSR industry. Not entirely on its own fault; it just isn't as big a market in which to develop the industry vs. China, Japan, France, Germany, or Spain.

If they're smart, they'll work out signal system compatibility with different systems, so that when it comes for secondary markets to purchase rolling stock--like the U.S., U.K., maybe Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, India, etc.--Korea can field its pricing advantage, although without bigger government support of such export deals, like with favorable financing, it's just going to be hard to beat the Chinese juggernaut.

Nonetheless, these EMU's are going to be a huge upgrade domestically, being much better suited to Korea's service patterns and geography.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Design selection for the Jeonju Station expansion*

The historical Jeonju Station is getting an expansion. Apparently, the winning design has been selected, and seems to be this large and impressive glass structure. This seems to be a very interesting design, although I'm sure there will be some concerns as well. But overall, I can't wait for this station to get built.










http://cafe.daum.net/skyscrapers/AkKH/1289


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Will this expansion include more platforms or tracks? Considering that the station is fairly well-located next to Jeonju, and that it's the transfer station from the Honam to Jeolla KTX routes--and that Jeonju is a decently-busy tourist stop in its own right--it's not surprising that they need to expand it.

I'm getting really amped up for some of the station upgrades taking place in various spots around the country. Might help to direct more people onto the railways!


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

aquaticko said:


> Will this expansion include more platforms or tracks? Considering that the station is fairly well-located next to Jeonju, and that it's the transfer station from the Honam to Jeolla KTX routes--and that Jeonju is a decently-busy tourist stop in its own right--it's not surprising that they need to expand it.
> 
> I'm getting really amped up for some of the station upgrades taking place in various spots around the country. Might help to direct more people onto the railways!




To the best of my knowledge, there will not be any new tracks. Apart from the KTX going to Yeosu, there is fairly little other traffic, so I don't think there is much need to create more tracks. It's a simple North-South railroad, with no other important junction. As for platforms, I'm sure that this project will include the remodeling of the platforms one way or the other. Does it mean adding new platforms, I'm not entirely sure... maybe.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

> *Hyundai Rotem ships out first Korail EMU-250*
> 
> _HYUNDAI Rotem has shipped the first 260km/h EMU-250 high-speed train from its Changwon plant to Korean national operator Korail, which ordered 114 high-speed EMUs to operate on new and upgraded lines across the country._
> 
> ...


Very exciting! I've read, too, that the higher-speed members of this train family (the EMU-300) will be of wider loading gauge--3100mm vs. 2904mm/2970mm of the KTX-I/II. Perhaps this portends enhancements of station platforms for level boarding? I can only hope so.


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## Gusiluz (Apr 4, 2013)

^^ Thanks for the news! But I don't understand how much money each order costs:


> Won 216bn for a further 84 EMU-250
> Won 102bn ($US 87.7m) order with Hyundai Rotem for 30 trains


Won 2,571m every single train in the first order, and Won 3,400m in the second order. There are differences in the maintenance period, or it is simply a matter of scale?

And my converter says that each train of the first order costs € 1,97M, and 2,61 those of the second order. I'm doing something wrong hno: :nuts:


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

Some recent pictures of the transfer operations:
















































https://www.facebook.com/groups/RailwayMania/

Passing Changwong Station:






Inside shots from a news report:


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Gusiluz said:


> ^^ Thanks for the news! But I don't understand how much money each order costs:
> 
> Won 2,571m every single train in the first order, and Won 3,400m in the second order. There are differences in the maintenance period, or it is simply a matter of scale?
> 
> And my converter says that each train of the first order costs € 1,97M, and 2,61 those of the second order. I'm doing something wrong hno: :nuts:


Perhaps it's 216bn for the entire order--all 114 cars? Doing that math gets a cost of 1.89M for each car, close to that which you got for the first order alone. Not sure, to be honest, but it seems about right for a trainset of its type; a quick Google search of trains of similar kind nets ~2 million for New Pendolino vehicles.


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Just to clear out any potential misunderstanding. The order is for 114 train cars (with one train having 6 cars, so 19 trainsets in total). I don't know if it solves you math problem, but there will be 19 sets in total (and not 114).


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## Gusiluz (Apr 4, 2013)

^^ Thank you both for the attempt, but the linked news did not speak of cars:


> In May 2016 Korail placed a Won 102bn ($US 87.7m) order with Hyundai Rotem for *30 trains* for use on the new Gyeongjeon line to Masan in the south of the country. This was followed in December 2016 by a second contract worth Won 216bn for a further *84 EMU-250 sets* for the Seohae, Center Island and Jungang lines, which are being upgraded for 200km/h operation.
> 
> All *114 trains* are expected to be delivered by next year.


Although I don't find any news on the Internet that certifies it, I think It seems more real, both for the number of trains (although I don't know the size of those lines) and for the money: any EMU of 6 cars for 200/250 km/h costs a minimum of 10 M €:

Sweden: Zefiro Express Regional 3 cars 270 passengers 9.28 M €
United Kingdom: Nova 2 class 397 5 cars 296 passengers 11.13 M €
Holland: Coradia Stream ICNG 5/8 cars 300 passengers 10.13 M €
France: Coradia Liner V200 450 passengers 13.50 M €

30/6= 5 trains, 102bn/5 = Won 20.400 = € 15.74 M every single train
84/6= 14 trains, 216bn/6 = Won 15.429 = € 11.90 M every single train


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

I wasn't sure of whether to post this in this thread or the South Korea High Speed Rail thread, as it does constitute an upgraded conventional rail capable of 200km/h speeds:

(Google translated and edited for clarification)


> *Gyeongjeon Line Gwangyang-Jinju Electrification Project Begins*
> 
> The Korea Railroad Authority will begin electrification of the section of the Gyeongjeon Line from Gwangyang to Jinju, a length of approximately 51.5km, at a total cost of KRW239.6 billion (~235 million USD), expecting to open in 2021.
> 
> ...


http://m.cenews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=9531


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Some rolling footage of the EMU-250 on its own power:


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Ulsan Station Transfer Station Complex*

It's not exactly a rail project, but I didn't exactly know where to talk about this development, so here it is.

As you know, Ulsan KTX Station was built far away from the city center (where the Taehwagang Station is located), and was (and still is) underdeveloped.

There have been plans for years to build a large Transfer Center (for express and local buses) and Shopping Mall next to the train station, in partnership with the Lotte Group.

Now, these plans have finally been approved and finalized, and construction is expected to start in the second half of this year, with a completion target for 2022.

I guess the complex will be somewhat similar to the complex at Dongdaegu Station, but of course, with the station being located so far away from central Ulsan, it will likely serve a quite different function for local residents.










http://www.busan.com/view/busan/view.php?code=2020011219112408401

https://www.sedaily.com/NewsView/1YXN744NGS

https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200110101900057?input=1195m


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Recap of all railway projects currently underway*

So, I figured out that it might be a bit complicated for all the people to follow recent developments in the railway infrastructure. Especially since there are so many projects going on.

The railway infrastructure was mostly built during the Japanese occupation period, and was not significantly improved during the 2nd half of the 20th century, when the government focused on road transportation, and subways. Then, with the KTX, the Korean rail network drastically changed. There was also some electrification, track doubling and track realignment, but the major news was the KTX, which was a massive project with wide public appeal.

Today, the core KTX infrastructure is built, and there will be few major additions to the main KTX lines. However, there are many projects, and probably actually more than ever. There might be individually smaller, but combined, they will contribute to drastically change the rail network and infrastructure. While Korea has an excellent high-speed network to link large cities, and equally excellent subway, the train network is not dense, with few minor lines compared to Europe or Japan, and existing non-high speed lines are still slow, with limited service.

So here it is, I’m listing everything which comes to my mind. I’m only listing lines which are under construction or those who are realistic changes of being built fairly soon. I’m excluding subway lines, and only including regular rail service. The distinction can sometimes be hard to make though, so I’ll do my best. And while subway projects are easier to identify, as all lines are usually well defined with clear distinction between their services, it’s more complicated for rail. Projects include of course the construction of new lines, but also track realignment, track doubling, electrification, faster train purchases, construction of wye (triangular junction), construction of additional platforms or station extensions, addition of new service. All these more marginal improvements to the network can significantly improve it, even if they’re not as visible to the public as brand new lines:

*Line Updates:*

*KTX Nambu (Southern) Naeryuk Line*: Nambunaeryuk Line is the last important true high-speed rail line which is planned to be built in the country. Proposed for almost two decades, it was financially approved last year, and is now in its planning stage. This line would start just east of the Gimcheon Station, and go straight down to Hapcheon (where Haeinsa temple is located), Jinju, Goseon, Tongyeong and Geoje, for a length of about 190km. This line has actually been in the news quite a lot these past few weeks as the city of Changwon is trying to get the line built more to the East nearer to where Changwon is located. This Changwon proposition is unlikely to be selected, and we will know more once the final route is announced. Officially, the target is currently for the Namhae Line to open in 2027, so construction would need to start in the next 3 years, but realistically, it might be difficult to open the line before 2030.

*Honam Line Gwangju-Mokpo extension*: A well-known project which had long been delayed. Right now, past Gwangju-Songjeong Station, the line used is the conventional Jeolla Line (59.5km), going to Naju, then West to Hampyeong, and finally back south to Mokpo. Now, the line is being improved from Gwangju to Gomagwon (just west of Hampyeong), and on this 26km section the speed has very recently been increased from 180km to 230km, shaving 3 minutes of travel time. On the remaining section, entirely new tracks will be built, and the line will go even further West, to reach all the way to Muan airport. The new line will be 44.1km until Imseongni (then use the conventional line again for the last 7.3km), and allow trains to reach 300km. So the actual line will actually be more than 15km longer than the existing line, and even with the higher speeds, only a couple of minutes will be gained compared to the existing line. But given the awkward location of Muan Airport, and given the fact that it will become the main airport for the entire region once Gwangju Airport closes in a couple of year, I understand the decision as losing 5 or 10 minutes compared to a straight line from Gwangju to Mokpo is probably worth it to ensure better access to Muan Airport. Construction will start in the second half of this year and opening is planned for 2025 at the latest.

*Gyeongjeon Line*: The line connecting Gwangju to Busan has recently been improved and will see more significant improvements in the future. The eastern section to Jinju was electrified in 2010 to allow for KTX traffic. The Suncheon-Gwangyang Section (8km) was doubled in 2011 and electrified in 2012. The section between Gwangyang and Jinu (51 km) was also completely realigned and doubled in 2016 will be electrified by next year, allowing for electric trains to go all the way from Busan to Yeosu. Also opening at the beginning of next year in a new eastern high speed section from Busan (Bujeon Station) to Changwon, which replaces the tortuous existing station going all the way North to Samryangjin. With the completed line, which is much faster (250kph) and shorter (by at least 30km), the line will be significantly improved. The section between Changwon and Busan might also see commuter rail traffic part of the Busan Metro System (like the Donghae Line), but the exact type of service and its eventual connection to the Dongae Line is still uncertain. Finally, regarding the part West of Suncheon, there have been major developments recently, as the realignment (and doubling + electrification) of the 110 km line has been financially approved. Plan is for construction to first start on the existing section between Suncheon and Boseong (48km), to be completed in 2023, and then to entirely rebuild the section between Boseong and Gwangju. Once all improvements are completed, travel time from Gwangju to Busan will drastically be reduced from 6:30 hours to around 2:30 hours.

*Namhaean Line*: This is a line which I could have included in the Gyeongjeon Line, as it is a branch of Gyeongjeon Line, but is also known by this other Namhaean name. This is a line from Boseong to Mokpo (at Imseongni Junction), currently under construction, and scheduled for opening in 2022. It was initially planned as a single-tracked, unelectrified line, but it was decided late last year to electrify this line as well, meaning that once it is completed, express trains will be able to go from Mokpo to Busan as well, bypassing Gwangju.

*Donghae Line*: Like the Gyeongjeon Line, this is a long line with many “moving parts” and different sections under construction. The line on the East Coast of Korea is supposed to link Busan to Sokcho and eventually North Korea. Only a small part of the line has been built so far. Here are all the developments from the South to the North. From Busan (Bujeon Station), the realigned 28.5km line reopened in 2016 to Ilgwang, and service is currently limited to Busan Subway Service. The second part of the line (37km), from Ilgwang to Taehwagang Station in Ulsan currently has no traffic has it is being entirely rebuilt as an electrified double-track line. Completion has been delayed, but is currently planned for 2022. This section will also see subway service. Then, if we move farther North, we reach the section connecting Taehwagang (Ulsan) to Singyeongju (Gyeongju), which is also being fully realigned, with the line drifting further West that the previous line which went to Gyeongju Station in downtown. This is done to be able to connect with the KTX line, and also because building the line near the historical sites of Gyeongju would have been complicated. Next, from Singyeongju, the line goes back North-East to Pohang for about 40km, on the section of the line which was opened with KTX traffic in 2015. Then, North of Pohang, the population gets very scarce, and there was no line at all until Samcheok Station. In 2019, the first section to Yeongdeok (44.1km) opened, and the remaining 122.2km section will open in 2022. The line is mostly single-tracked, and was initially not planned to be electrified, but now, it has been decided that the entire line will be fully electrified by 2024. From Samcheok to Gangneung, the line already exists, and is electrified. However, it is also single-tracked and with many curves, so the top speed is limited. Finally, North of Gangneung, there is no railroad, and the population is low. There have been plans to build a line from Gangneung to Jejin Station, which is a station just South of the border but which is actually connected only to the rail network of North Korea (with of course no service between the 2 countries). In case of warming of the relations between the 2 countries, maybe a line will get built to connect Jejin with the rest of South Korea’s network, but it’s unlikely in the near future.

*DongSeo (East-West) Line*: This line, also known as the Chuncheon-Sokcho Line, would connect the two cities, extending from the Gyeongchun Line in Chuncheon to Sokcho, and be 93.9km long, going slightly North of the Seoraksan National Park. It has been proposed for decades, but was recently almost completely approved. Trains would go at a speed of up 250 kph. The two hurdles to the project were the Ministry of the Environment’s opposition to the railroad going underneath Seoraksan (which has been partially lifted), and the low density of population coupled with the fact that trains arriving at Sokcho have nowhere to connect to (at least unless the Donghae Line is built up to Sokcho). Construction may start as early as next year.

*Daegu Line*: This short line between Daegu and Yeongcheon is being electrified, realigned and double-tracked. Most of the work has been finished in most sections, but it will be fully completed by the end of the year. Travel time will go down from about 35 minutes to 18 minutes on the 29km line, once new trains are introduced. I don’t know the usage plan exactly, but it’s possible that some trains on the Jungang Line will then go to Dongdaegu through the Daegu Line.

*Jungang (Central) Line*: This important historic line, linking Seoul with Gyeongju, is being significantly improved as well. The section between Seoul and Jipyeong was doubled and realigned (it was already electrified for decades) between 2005 and 2009, and now sees subway service (Gyeongui-Jungang Line). The section to Wonju was also realigned and the tracks doubled, and the opening of this new section was done by 2012. The next section, between Wonju and Jecheon (44km), is also being completely realigned and double-tracked (it was already electrified), and this new section will be completed at the end of this year. A short section between Jecheon (Bongyang Station) and Dodam Station had already been double-tracked in the early 2010s to accommodate freight traffic in the area. Then from Dodam to Singyeongju (174km), the line is completely getting rebuilt as well. At the end of this year, the Dodam-Andong section will partially open (single-track, then full double tracks by late 2021). The Andong-Yeongcheon Section will reopen in late 2022, and the Yeongcheon-Singyeongju Section will open in late 2021. So overall, the line will be entirely completed as a realigned, double-tracked and electrified line by 2022, but some sections will open before. Finally, one other issue of the line is that it is oversaturated in its urban section, especially between Cheongnyangni and Mangu, which explains why many of the train services on these lines have limited service (Bundang Line to Cheongnyangni, Gyeongui-Jungang Subway service, ITX Cheongchun, Gyeonggang Line KTX, Gyeongchun Line). The line is saturated, and it is almost impossible to add more traffic to the line. There have been proposals to rebuild it (as well as the section of the Gyeongwon Line between Yongsan and Cheongnyangni which has Gyeongui-Jungang Line service) underground or to quadruple the tracks. It has however been very difficult to achieve, and so far there are no concrete plans for quadrupling. GTX Line B has also recently been approved, but is still under planning. I would not be surprised if they build it underground to Mangu Station (and not only Cheongnyangni) to allow some track sharing on the Cheongnyangni-Mangu section and improve line capacity.

*Seohae Line*: This line is currently under construction, and partially open. The first section between Sosa and Wonsi (23km) opened to subway traffic in 2018, and the northern section from Sosa to Daegok (20km) will open in June 2021. The trains will be able to transfer to the Gyeongui Line and go further North (especially in case of reunification), but at this point subway service is expected to go no further than Daegok. On the south end, while to current terminus is Wonsi Station, it will be extended to Songsan by 2 stations. This construction is being done as part of the Sinansan Line construction, and will be completed by 2024. This is as far south as the subway will go. Further south, the line is also being built as a conventional railroad, from Songsan to Hongseong (in Chungnam Province), for a length of 90km, as a double-tracked, electrified line. The kind of service that the line will see is unclear, and the line will probably be an important line for freight as well. At the end of the 90km line, it will link with the existing Janghang Line at Hongseong Station. The Janghang Line itself was currently only electrified and double-tracked until Sinchang (the terminus of Subway Line 1), but electrification and double-tracking of the line has recently begun. So overall, once the Seohae Line is completed, it would be possible to go by train all the way from the Janghang Line (from Iksan) to the North-West of Seoul, although the type of service to be provided is still uncertain.

*Jungbu Naeryuk Line*: This line is under construction from Bubal (on the Gyeonggang Line KTX) to Mungyeong, in Gyeongbuk Province. It will open in 2 phases, the first one from Bubal to Chungju in 2021 (53.9km), with a top speed of 200kph, and the second one from Chungju to Mungyeong a year later (41km at a top speed of 150kph). It will be an electrified single-tracked line, as demand is fairly low. One issue with this line is that it will not connect with Seoul directly, and trains will likely only run to Bubal. It’s possible that some trains will go all the way to Pangyo, but for now, it’s just impossible to reach Seoul on this line (at least until the Suseo-Gwangju Line opens, more on that later).

*Gyeonggang Line*: This line is entirely new, and not using previously existing lines in any way. Ultimately, it will connect Incheon and the south-west of the Gyeonggi-do province with Gangneung. The first section of the line (68km) opened from Pangyo (Seongnam) to Yeoju in 2016, as a metropolitan subway line. The second section, and the most famous one, opened from Wonju to Gangneung ahead of the 2018 Olympics, and currently has KTX traffic, with trains using the Jungang Line on the Wonju-Seoul section. Between these two sections lies the Wonju-Yeoju section, which is still under planning but which is moving forward. This alone is not such an important news, but considering the Suseo-Gwangju Line, if both projects are built, this would mean that people could use high-speed rail in Suseo to go to Gangneung. Finally, the final section under planning is west of Pangyo, going all the way to Wolgot (partially using the Sinansan Line under construction). There would be subway service in the Wolgot-Pangyo line as well, which is scheduled to start construction next year. The line then would naturally connect to the Suin Line. Once all the line is completed, this would mean that there could be traffic from Yeonsu Station (in Incheon on the Suin Line) to Gangneung, with speeds of above 200kph on most sections.

*Suseo-Gwangju Line*: This short 19km line would link Suseo SRT Station in south east Seoul to Gwangju (the city in Gyeonggi Province, not the one in Jeolla). Right now, SRT trains from Suseo are only connected to the Gyeongbu HSR line, so there are only services to main lines (and even no service to connecting lines to Yeosu, Pohang or Changwon), so only to Busan and Gwangju (the one in Jeolla). As mentioned, one key problem of all trains going East of Seoul, is that they have to use the Jungang Line, which is over capacity already. If the Gwangju-Suseo line opens, trains on the Jungbu Naeryuk Line would have a way to directly access Seoul. Even more importantly, if the Yeoju-Wonju Line gets built, higher-speed trains of the Jungang Line or Gyeongang Line to Gangneung would be able to directly go to Seoul’s busy Gangnam District thanks to this connection to Suseo Station. The Suseo-Gwangju line was financially approved a few months ago, but is still a couple of years ago from start of construction.

*Incheon KTX (Eocheon Wye)*: With the completion of the Suin Line to Suwon this year, it will soon be possible to bring the KTX to Incheon. In order to do that, a 2.4 km triangular junction will be built at the intersection of the Gyeongbu HSR and the Suin Line near Eocheon Station, allowing KTX trains to use the Suin Line (and Subway Line 4) for about 35km to reach Songdo Station which will be the terminus for KTX trains in Incheon. Construction of the triangular junction will start in the second half of this year.

*Suwon KTX (Jije Connection)*: Very similar to the Incheon KTX, the project is to bring true KTX service to Suwon. Right now, there are a few KTX trains per day which use the conventional Gyeongbu Line from Seoul to Daejeon, going through Suwon). Since the KTX trains have to use the slow line all the way to Daejeon, it’s not very efficient. The plan is to link the conventional Gyeongbu Line with Jije Station (on the SRT Line to Suseo). Right now, both the Gyeongbu Line (with Subway Line 1 service) and the SRT Line stop at Jije Station, but the tracks are not connected. This connection would allow trains departing Suwon on the Gyeongbu Line to connect much more directly to the high speed rail network at Jije Station, and shave 30 minutes off the traffic time, with the number of daily service to Suwon being increased to 18 trains. Construction is expected to start this year or next year.

*Donghae KTX (Gangneung Wye)*: Once again fairly similar to the Incheon KTX, the project is intended to allow KTX trains using the Gyeonggang Line to connect to the Donghae Line and go to Donghae City. A 1.9km triangular junction will allow trains to bypass Gangneung Station and head south to Donghae. Opening is planned for exactly one month from now. The total number of KTX using the Gyeonggang Line will remain unchanged, but out of 36 daily trains in weekdays, 8 will now go to Donghae (and 14 out of 52 in the weekend). This means that the number of trains going to Gangneung will decrease (there were some plans to build a South Gangneung Station which could be used for trains going to Donghae, but it’s unlikely to be built in the near future).

*Pyeongtaek-Osong Line*: The Gyeongbu HSR line is currently already near saturation, which makes it difficult to add new service. With the Incheon KTX and Suwon KTX, as well as the planned Nambu Naeryuk KTX Line, the Gyeongbu HSR would be overwhelmed, especially with the traffic on the existing lines naturally growing as well. The plan Currently, all services go through the Pyeongtaek-Osong section, which is a bottleneck. The plan is to build another HSR section of tracks between Osong and Pyeongtaek, which would mean basically quadrupling the line. In reality, the current plans are for the line to be built underground, bypassing the Cheonan-Asan Station (currently, around half the trains stop at that station). Upon completion, some of the trains (mostly those stopping at Cheonan Asan) would us the existing tracks, and those bypassing Cheonan-Asan would use the new underground section. The tunnel would be around 45km-long. The plan was financially approved last year, although there are still some steps left before construction can start.

*Susaek-Gwangmyeong Line*: This line would serve a similar purpose of the Pyeongtaek Osong Line, which is to increase capacity on the existing Gyeongbu HSR line. Just North of Pyeongtaek, there are no capacity issues as the line splits to the Suseo HSR line, and part of the traffic will also go to the Suwon KTX and Incheon KTX once built. The capacity is ok on the section until Gwangmyeong KTX station. After Gwangmyeong, the HSR line merges with the conventional line (from Geumcheon District Office), and even through it is quadrupled in most sections (and even partly sextupled), the merging with the other trains from the Gyeongbu Line and the various services of Subway Line 1 mean that the line is almost at capacity, and that it is not possible to add much new train service to either Seoul or Yongsan Station. The project is therefore to build underground a new line, from Gwangmyeong to Seoul Station, and then to Susaek, dedicated to high speed rail. The current section of the line is 27km-long, although if they decide to build the new line straight and not follow the existing Gyeongbu Line (on a straight line between Geumcheon District Office and Noryangjin), its length would be a bit shorter. In any case, this line has not been approved yet, so even in a best-case scenario, it would not be completed before 2030.

I’ll stop there for the lines, there are some minor lines, especially for freight under construction (Pyeongtaek Line, Gunsan-Iksan Line) under construction, some others being extended (Gyeongwon Line to the DMZ) and speed increases planned (Chungbuk Line, along with a new connection at Osong to allow trains to transfer from the Honam HSR Line to the Chungbuk Line and then all the way to Gangneung). There are long term plans for a direct line between Gwangju and Daegu, as well as for a line between Mokpo and Jeju.
But as you see, development plans are quite significant. They include the complete overall of 3 main lines (Gyeongjeon Line, Donghae Line, Jungang Line), the building of new important lines (Seohae Line, Nambu Naeryuk Line, DongSeo Line, Namhaean Line), lines to alleviate saturated lines (Pyeongtaek-Osong, Gwangmyeong-Suseo), and small connections to link existing lines better (Suwon KTX, Incheon KTX, Donghae KTX, Suseo-Gwangju Line, Wonju-Yeoju Line).

*Station Updates:*

After talking about stations, here is a short update on overall to some important stations which are being improved. I’m not even going to list stations on new lines

*Sejong Station*: The largest provincial city without a decent transportation option. It’s of course a growing city and an administrative center. Right now, Sejong residents have to either use the small Jochiwon Station on the conventional Gyeongbu Line (15km away) or Osong Station (20km away). There is a project to build a Sejong station just south of Sejong on the existing Honam HSR (just 2km away from the city). This would seem like an easy option, but this is very political, as the Chungbuk Province (which is probably the “weakest” province in Korea, at least for transportation) is opposing this, as it would mean than Osong Station (which has low traffic but was built to ensure that Chungbuk has a KTX station near Cheongju) would see its important further diminished. It’s an endless tug-of-war, and it’s not sure if this station (which makes perfectly sense based on its location and potential) will get built or not. Recently there have also been plans for an alternative, without a KTX line but with the building of a conventional line (with ITX) linking with the conventional Gyeongbu Line at Jochiwon and then going to Boryeong through Sejong. But it would not really serve any purpose to help link Sejong to Korea’s major cities.

*Busan Station*: The main station has not changed, but the new plaza in front of the station opened last year, and the next step currently under construction is the construction of the pedestrian deck to the North Harbor development.

*Suseo Station*: Suseo Station only opened its doors a bit over 3 years ago, but it has proven very popular. Trains are full and SR is considering buying/leasing more high-speed trains. In addition, the GTX station is currently under construction underneath, and just south of the station, the land is being developed as part of the Suseo Station Commercial Area. If the Suseo-Gwangju and the Yeoju-Wonju lines are built, there will also be many more opportunities on the Jungang Line as well as the Jungbu Naeryuk Line and Donghae Line. Also, with possible improvements to the main lines (Osong-Pyeongtaek Line, Nambu Naeryuk Line), the station is planned to grow, and there are currently plans to grow from the existing 6 platforms to 14 using the lot used by a parking lot just East of the Station. Right now, this is still under planning and no construction has started yet.

*Jeonju Station*: Following the introduction of KTX traffic on the Jeolla Line, the small station (for an important and touristic city like Jeonju) will be extended, starting next year. The historical building will be preserved, but a new glass building will be integrated into it

*Taehwagang Station*: This station, which is the main station in downtown Ulsan, is getting entirely rebuilt, in anticipation of the opening of the new Donghae Line, with metropolitan subway service from Busan all the way to this station, and train services from Busan all the way to Seoul (through Jungang Line) or up the Donghae Line

*Gwangju-Songjeong Station*: Gwangju Songjeong has become with the opening of the KTX Gwangju’s main station. The station was extended in 2015 when the Honam HSR opened, but it is still much smaller than its counterparts in Daejeon or Daegu for example. There are plans to further expand the station, but nothing has been approved yet.

*Ulsan Station*: The station will not change, but a large shopping and transfer complex operated by Lotte will soon start construction and will be physically linked to the station.

*Bujeon Station*: A previously important station in Busan, its importance diminished after the arrival of the KTX to Busan Station. However, the station is now at the beginning of a revival. First of all, it is now located just next to the popular Busan Citizen’s Park (previously a US Army base), around which there are now many major reconstruction project. The Donghae Line has also opened for limited metropolitan subway 3 years ago. Now, the Donghae Line and the Gyeongjeon Line are near completion, and the line is going to see metropolitan subway service from Changwon to Ulsan through this station, as well as much more traffic on the conventional Gyeongjeon and Donghae (and even Jungang Line) lines with improved trains. The current plan is also for Busan Station to only have KTX and SRT trains, so other Mugunhwa or ITX trains using the Gyeongbu Line will be rerouted to Bujeon. Finally, there is a planned subway/tram line (C-Bay Park Line) under planning as well. For all these reasons, there are plans to build a large transfer station complex at Bujeon Station, although it hasn’t been finalized

*Naju Station*: With the completion of the first phase of the Honam HSR, and the further extension to Mokpo, Naju Station is being rebuilt to accommodate for more traffic, and the reconstructed station will be completed this month

*Seo (West) Daegu Station*: A new station on the West part of Daegu, on the Gyeongbu and Gyeongbu HSR lines. Construction started last year. It will see traffic on the Daegu Metropolitan Railroad, and will also likely receive a small portion of the existing KTX and SRT trains which currently stop at Dongdaegu instead.

*New Wonju Station*: With the realignment of the Jungang Line, the line is being rebuilt further West of the city and a new Wonju station is being built south of the city to replace the existing downtown station. Completion is planned for the end of this year

*New Andong Station*: With the realignment of the Jungang Line, a new station to replace the existing Andong Station is being built just west of the city center and will open its doors by next yearr.

*Jecheon Station*: With the realignment of the Jungang Line, the existing station is being rebuilt in anticipation of increased traffic upon the full opening of the line. Completion planned for this year.

*Muan Airport Station*: With the building of a proper HSR extension to the Honam HSR between Gwangju and Mokpo, the new line will be built further West and reach Muan Airport. As part of the plan, Muan Airport Station (which will be underground) is scheduled to be built there by 2023.

*Jangyu Station*: The Jangyu Station (which was just a freight station) will become a key station on the Gyeongjeon Line (including metropolitan subway service), as it is located near downtown Gimhae.

And finally, I’d like to do a small recap on trains. Korea currently has high-speed trains, which are classified as follows:
-	KTX-1: Built using the French TGVs, these KTX are now past the halfway point of their lifespan. There are 46 trainsets, of 20 cars each. They mostly serve on high-capacity lines
-	KTX-Sancheon: There have been 4 batches of KTX-Sancheon, built using Korea technology. There are 71 KTX Sancheon in total, all in 10 car formation. The 1st 24 trains were used to provide additional service on the new sections with KTX Service (Jeolla Line, Gyeongbu Line, Honam HSR…), while the 4th one, 15 cars, is mostly used for the Gyeonggang HSR line to Gangneung. As for the 2nd and 3rd batches (22 and 10 trainsets), they are used by SRT, and provide service to the Gyeongbu HSR and Honam HSR.
Then is the ITX-Saemaeul. Saemaeul was the fastest service before the introduction of the KTX, and comprised a mixture of electric and diesel trains, with top speeds of up to 150 kph. They have now been almost phased out (not completely), and have been superseded by the ITX-Saemaeul Service, which uses electric trains introduced in 2014 with a top speed of 180kph, but which in reality don’t go above 150kph. There are currently 23 trains of 6 cars in service, plus a few remaining Saemaeul which have not been phased out and use the ITX-Saemaeul branding. There is also another type of ITX, the slightly faster ITX-Cheongchun, which only operates between Seoul and Chuncheon, and which was introduced in 2012, with a total of 8 trains of 8 cars each.
Then, the next level of service is the Mugunhwa, which is still heavily used for slower services with more frequent stops, and services on lesser-used lines. All Mugunghwa operate with a locomotive, either diesel or electric. Many of these locomotives are being retired, but the locomotives still fill an important role (including freight, testing…), and the latest batch of 87 electric locomotives (Korail Class 8500) was built between 2012 and 2014, while a batch of 25 diesel locomotives was built in 2014.
And finally, we have the Nuriro, which is a service of 8 trains of 4 cars built in 2008 for service on local lines. I’m not going to dive deeper into the Tonggeun service or include AREX trains or test units.

Right now, there is a fairly good balance between the number and types of trains and the existing infrastructure, but this will change. The bigger change is of course the upcoming completion of the 3 important lines which will be the Jungang, Donghae and Gyeongjeon Line. Before, either these lines didn’t exist or they were slow (slower than 150kph), and some of them were not electrified.

*Train Updates:*

*EMU 250*: To introduce service to these 3 lines, by around 2022, a new train is being introduced, the EMU (Electric Motor Unit) 250. It will allow passengers to travel at speeds of up to 250kph on those lines, as well as the Gyeonggang Line (which now is used by KTX but the line is limited at 250 kph, so the KTX are actually too fast for the line and don’t operate at their top speed). They will also potentially be used on the conventional Gyeongbu and Honam lines, and maybe other lines. Once the Seohae (around 2024) and Dongseo (before 2030) lines are completed, they are as well lines designated for a top speed of 250 kph, so would be perfect for these lines. The first train is currently being tested, and a total of 19 (with 6 cars each) will enter into service by the end of this year, but I think they will truly become a pillar of the fleet by 2022~2023, when the improved Jungang, Donghae and Gyeongjeon lines are fully operational.

*EMU 320*: Another train which is being introduced is the EMU 320, which is basically a replacement for the original KTX. Since the KTX lines are already quite busy, and that the KTX circulating on the Gyeonggang Line may eventually be sent to other lines if the EMU 250 is introduced to the Gyeonggang Line, there are few possibilities to really increase the KTX service from the existing lines right now. For these reasons, only 2 such EMU 320 trains of cars have been ordered, and will be manufactured this year. Without a doubt, they will only have a small impact in the short run, but once the KTX-1 start to need being replaced, and if new lines for KTX open (Nambu Naeryuk Line, Suwon KTX, Incheon KTX, Gwangmyeong-Susaek, Osong-Pyeongtaek), the demand for true high speed trains will increase again, probably by 2025, once these lines start getting built.
*EMU 150 (ITX-Saemaheul)*: Finally, a last type of train currently under production is once again the ITX-Saemaeul train. There are currently 23 trains, which is not all that much, but with the new lines being built (Jungbu Naeryuk Line, Donghae Line, Namhaean Line), there will be more opportunity for these trains to be used. Probably even more importantly, these ITX-Saemaheul will replace some Mugunhwa Service, especially the diesel Mugunghwa due to the electrification of the above mentioned lines and some secondary lines (Janghang Line, Daegu Line). Two batches of such trains have been ordered last year, for 150 cars (25 trains of 6) and 208 cars (which would amount to 34 trains of 6 and 1 of 4). Once these trains enter service, within 2 or 3 years, the number of these red ITX will be more than tripled.

One last note, Korail is in the process of rebranding its trains, especially the new ones such as EMU 320 and EMU 250, so within the next few months, we’ll probably know the final commercial names of these trains.


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## Sr.Horn (Jun 11, 2006)

kimahrikku1 said:


> So, I figured out that it might be a bit complicated for all the people to follow recent developments in the railway infrastructure. Especially since there are so many projects going on.


Thanks for great job!! Following korean projects it's always complicated if you're not familiar with the korean web universe :shifty:


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

Construction update of the new Wonju Station:














































http://cafe.daum.net/skyscrapers/DLFQ/12843


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Opening of the Donghae KTX*

KTX introduced service to Donghae Station (on the Donghae Line) on March 2nd. The ceremony for the launch of the service was cancelled due to the coronavirus. There will be 4 trains per day everyday linking the 2 cities in each direction (so 8 in total), starting from Seoul Station. Also due to the coronavirus, the first day was no really a success, with few passengers in the train.

Overall, the matter is that while this opening might be making some headlines, it doesn't represent a significant improvement in the rail network (for now). The opening of the KTX to Gangneung was indeed a major upgrade, as the line, built also as part of the Olympic project, was brand new, and brought service to the area of the country which needed it the most (reaching Gangneung took more than 6 hours before, and around 2 hours afterwards). Gangneung itself is a relatively big city, and especially a touristic one.

Here, the new service didn't come with any significant infrastructure improvement, as it uses the existing Gyeonggang Line to Gangneung, and then the Donghae Line to, you guessed it, Donghae. The only construction is the construction of a triangular junction to directly connect between the two lines (they only connected before at Gangneung Station, which is the terminus station for both lines, with a single-tracked access to the station). Now, the 1.9km triangular junction is indeed important, and will be even more so once the Donghae Line is completed.

But for now, the service is only a modest improvement for passengers. First of all, it only connects to the city of Donghae (less than 100,000 inhabitants), so the demand is limited. It also comes at the cost of service to Gangneung. Trains using the Donghae KTX service bypass Donghae Station, so no passengers from the city of Donghae can take the train there.

Finally, the speed is just not that impressive. Of the 160 minutes of an average time on the KTX, you'll spend 30 minutes just to exit Seoul (from Seoul Station to Sangbong), going at the speed of a subway, you then have 40 minutes on the Jungang Line until Wonju (Manjong Station) with speed of 150kph. The next 50 minutes or so will be on the actual Gyeonggang Line with speed reaching up to 250kph, but calling at 2 or 3 stations in the middle of the mountains. And then, and here's the kick, you'll spend the last 40 minutes on the Donghae Line at speeds probably lower than 100kph to reach Donghae with 2 additional stops. As the crow fly, the distance between the triangular junction near Gangneung and Donghae is only 32km, so you can see that the train is not exactly fast.

This is a not a reflection of the fact that this service is a stupid idea, but of the fact that it's a temporary solution to a greater plan for the better connection of the East Sea with Seoul, which will be done in 4 steps:
- Step 1- Introduction of EMU 250: EMU 250, capable of operating up to speeds of 250kph, is being introduced this year and is currently being tested. The trains will be introduced on major non-HSR lines, especially those with some high speed limits and fairly high demand. Besides the old Honam and Gyeongju lines (but with lower speed limits around 150kph), the main lines will be the Seohae Line (including the Jangang Line, but with improvements to the Jangang Line still underway, and the Seohae Line at least 5 years away from being finished, especially on its section currently being built under the Sinansan Line project), the Gyeongjeon Line (which will not be completely electrified and realigned on its western section until at least 5 years from now), the Jungang Line (which will only be truly completed in 2 years, but which could technically receive service right now), and the Donghae Line (of which the central section will only open in 2 years). So this leaves us, with one major line which would fit perfectly for EMU 250, the Gyeonggang Line. The Gyeonggang Line currently has KTX service, but the trains cannot reach their full speed, and are also probably too long for the limited demand of the line. For the Gyeonggang Line, EMU 250 makes perfect sense from right now and the travel time would remain absolutely identical. I however believe that the plans are for the EMU 250 to first be rolled out on the Jungang Line instead. There are two reasons, the first one is that if the EMU 250 replaces KTX on the Gyeonggang Line, you would have to use KTX elsewhere, but the rest of the KTX network around its main HSR line is saturated, at least for the next few years until opening of Incheon KTX and Suwon KTX create more opportunities. So they might as well use the KTX on teh Gyeonggang Line for now. I'd venture to say that the second reason is more political. If you replace KTX with EMU 250 right now, the average Joe would consider it to be "less good" than KTX (because the top speed is lower), especially at the beginning when the awareness of EMU 250 will be lower. On the other side, if you introduce it to the Jungang Line, the reaction of the public would be positive as it would be an upgrade on the Mugunghwa / ITX service (even if the improvements to the speed are minimal until the Jungang Line is completely realigned in 2 years). But once there are more EMU 250 trains introduced than can service the Jungang Line, and once there are other usage possible to reassign the Gyeonggang KTX trains elsewhere in a couple of years, it is all but certain that EMU 250 trains will travel on the line from Seoul to Donghae, and further...
- Step 2 - Completion of the Donghae Line: Right now, the only opened section of the Donghae Line is the tortuous (albeit beautiful with the view of the sea) one between Gangneung and Samcheok, with no plans to upgrade it. By 2022, the line will completely open, with the 3 remaining sections, from Samcheok to Yeongdeok and Pohang, from Shin Gyeongju to Taehwagang in Ulsan, and of course the realigned tracks from Taehwagang to Ilgwang and Busan. Of course there are some connectivity and capcity questions about the line, but overall, in a few years, it will be possible to go from Busan through Gangneung to Seoul, with speed of over 200kph on most sections (with exceptions). It would make perfect sense to bring EMU service from Busan Bujeon to Gangneung passing by the busy cities of Ulsan, Gyeongju and Pohang and by the East Coast towns which are quite enclaved. Some of these trains, instead of stopping at Gangneung, could continue Westward to Seoul. Right now the introduction of the EMU 250 on this line is being reviewed, and will probably be done at some point.
- Step 3 - South Gangneung Station: One major issue with linking Donghae and Gyeonggang Line directly, is that the trains would not stop at Gangneung at all, which is the biggest city in the area. There were plans to build a station just South of Gangneung (and west of the triangular junction) to allow through traffic in Gangneung in either direction. Officially, these plans have been scrapped, but I do think that they will come back. There was no rush so far, as the 2 lines were not connected. But with the introduction of this triangular junction, the future introduction of EMU 250 as well as the upcoming completion of the full Donghae Line, it may be revived again. Right now, Gangneung has already lost 4 trains per day which go straight to Donghae, if they lost out on more trains in the future, you can be sure that they will ask for a station.
- Step 4 - Connection of Gyeonggang Line with Suseo Station: one last reason for more potential of this line is because right now, trains were limited at around 1 per hour, due to the congestion of the Jungang Line in the Seoul Area. The plans to connect Suseo Station with Gwangju (Gyeonggi), and then to connect the remaining section of the Gyeonggang Line between Wonju and Yeoju would allow the Gyeonggang Line to directly be connected with Suseo Station, and bring additional capacity on top of the current Gyeonggang Service to Cheongnyangni or Seoul Station. There is also a high demand for rail service in the South-East part of Seoul, and the line would be shorter and faster, so would probably shave off around 20 minutes from the Seoul Area to the East Sea. Of course, there are also plans to increase the capacity of the Jungang Line to increase the capacity, but this seems complicated to implement.

So overall, today only marks the first small step in the addition of high-speed service to the East Sea. For now it's only 4 trains a day on a tortuous section of 40 km or so, but within the next 10 years, this could become many more trains connecting all the way from Seoul to Busan through this line. Nothing is set in stone, but that is the direction that we're slowly taking.























https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200302140800062?input=1195m

http://www.pressian.com/news/article/?no=281165&utm_source=naver&utm_medium=search

https://cafe.naver.com/landroverfamilyclub/2517


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*Government considering implementing of top speed of 400kph for KTX*

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced two weeks ago that it is planning to increase the speed of the KTX to 400kph on some sections of the track. The first section that they are targeting to build at 400kph is the Osong-Pyeongtaek line which is going to be built in the next 5 years (to quadruple the existing tracks). The government is also planning speed upgrades on the rest of the existing Gyeongbu HSR and Honam HSR lines.

These plans are unlikely to be realized before 2025, but it's an interesting development nonetheless. It will be interesting to see if they can manage to increase the speed in a significant way (not just a few minutes gained here and there), and also to see if this affects the stations at which the KTX calls (due to the high densities, trains stop fairly often, probably 5 times on average on a 2:30 minute trip from Seoul to Busan).

http://biz.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2020/02/27/2020022700001.html

http://www.daejonilbo.com/news/newsitem.asp?pk_no=1411532


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

These are the pictures of the newly completed Naju Station, which I recently mentioned. Naju Station is located in Naju (duh) on the Honam HSR line between Gwangju and Mokpo. Following the completion of the HSR line in 2015, traffic at Naju station increased from around 400 passengers a day to 4500. The new and larger station has elevators and escalators, improved restroom and better access for buses and taxis.























__





Daum 카페






cafe.daum.net



















호남고속철도 나주역 현대식으로 탈바꿈…편의시설 크게 늘려 | 연합뉴스


(나주=연합뉴스) 유의주 기자 = 호남고속철도 전남 나주역사 증축공사가 마무리돼 20일 새롭게 선보였다.




www.yna.co.kr













이용객 늘어난 '나주역'… 현대식 역사로 탈바꿈


증축된 나주 역사. 한국도시철...




jnilbo.com


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*New Cheongnyangni Transfer Station Complex*

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced its plans to build a major transportation complex at Cheongnyangni Station, in conjunction with the planned opening of the GTX Lines B and C.

Currently, there are 6 types of service to Cheongnyangni:

Gangneung Line (aka. Gyeonggang Line), with KTX service to Gangneung
Jungang Line, with ITX and Mugunghwa traffic to the end of the Jungang Line
 in Yeongcheon

Gyeongchun Line, with subway and ITX-Cheongchun service to Chuncheon
Gyeongui-Junang Line, with subway service from Imjingang to Jipyeong
Bundang Line, with subway service to Suwon
Subway Line 1, with subway service on the entire line

Obviously, there are some express and limited services, but these are the basic 6 types of lines which use Cheongnyangni Station. Currently, Cheongnyangni isn't really a "transfer complex". Apart from Subway Line 1, all other service use regular rail lines, so the station feels like a train station with simply different platforms for different kinds of services. Line 1 is the exception, but it's not located directly underneath the station, but is a couple of hundred meters away and is connected through a simple corridor.

In the future, there will be no fewer than 4 additional types of services at Cheongnyangni Station:

GTX B, with service from Songdo to Maseok
GTX C, with service from Suwon to Deokjeong
Myeonmok Line, a short light subway line under planning from Cheongnyangni to Sinnae
Gangbukhoengdan Line, a line which not only scores 28 points in scrabble, but would connect Cheongnyangni with Mokdong in the shape of an arc-circle passing North of Jongno.

Cheongnyangni would only become one of 3 stations in Seoul with 2 GTX Lines (along with Samseong and Seoul Stations). Right now, none of the lines have become construction, but the GTX Lines may end up being completed by 2027 or so, so this plan to redevelop the station is expected to fully take shape in the next 5 to 10 years.

Amongst the existing service, the Gyeongchun Line will be extended to Sokcho (construction to start this year), the Jungang Line will be drastically improved (becoming fully operational by 2022), and the Gyeonggang Line will then connect with the Donghae Line (probably becoming fully operational by 2023).

So, Cheongnyangni will become a juggernaut of a station, and MOLIT has therefore announced its plans to transform it into a major complex station, with the addition of these 4 new lines, as well as a transfer complex for buses (apparently, there are currently 66(!) bus lines going through Cheongnyangni), and more commercial spaces. Paris La Défense and San Francisco Salesforece Transbay Transit Center are apparently being benchmarked for this project, although without looking so far, Dongdaegu Station can also serve as a sort of blueprint for this project.

This announcement is both major news, due to the scale of the project, and also a bit of a non-announcement, since it was already a foregone conclusion that the station would have to be redeveloped. Actually, the current station complex was completed around 2010, so it's already fairly new, so it will probably serve as a base for future expansion of the complex.

There is one thing that I don't completely know for sure, which is the track sharing of the GTX B line. Initially, the line was supposed to have its eastern terminal at Cheongnyangni, but then, they decided to extend the line eastward sharing tracks with the Jungang Line to Mangu, and then with the Gyeongchun Line to Maseok. I can't find a clear answer, but I believe that the plan which was financially approved last August was to also build separate tracks (underground) for the GTX Line from Cheongnyangni to Mangu as well (a section of around 5 km). This would to me be absolutely crucial, as the section of tracks between Cheongnyangni and Mangu is the most crowded in the country, with 157 daily trains for a capacity of 163 (as of 2018, this might have changed slightly). If the GTX line isn't built separately from Cheongnyangni to Mangu, it would be impossible to have frequent and high speed GTX service on the line, or at least without dramatically reducing the service on the other lines.

This brings me to my final point, which is the saturation of the line. The Jungang Line (including the Gyeongwon Line section south of Cheongnynangni) is completely saturated from Mangu to Cheongnyangni, and also quite saturated to Wangsimni and Seoul Station. This has actually been the case for decades, and a solution had not be found so far. The lines are no quadruple-tracked, and it's very complicated to do so due to the fact that there are roads and housing units right next to the tracks pretty much all the way from Mangu to Seoul Station.

This fact explains many things. For example, the Gyeongui-Jungang Line is known for its low frequency, and therefore lower usage, even in its central Seoul section where it actually connects important and populated areas. It's also why they had to lower service on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line to offer KTX service from Seoul Station or even Incheon airport during the Pyeongchang Olympics. Similarly, the Bundang Line station was officially extended to Cheongnyangni 2 years ago, but only a few trains actually go north of Cheongnyangni. The complains about the fairly low traffic on the regular train lines using Cheongnyangni Station (Gyeonggang, Jungang, Gyeongchun) are also due to this saturation. These lines to offer service to areas relatively less densely populated, but one may wonder if the relative slower development of these areas is partly due to the lower rail connectivity with Seoul. With the extension of the Gyeongchun line to Sokcho, the connection of the Gyeonggang Line with the Donghae Line, as well as the nearly completed upgrade to the Jungang Line and the introduction of EMU 250 trains, these problems are not going away any time soon.
For these reasons, it is to me paramount that the GTX Line B be built underground up to Mangu to not further decrease the service and exacerbate problems. I think that this is what was decided last year (it's not entirely clear according to the articles I read which were sometimes conflicting). If indeed they build separate GTX Line B tracks to Mangu, that will not worsen the situation, and even slightly improve it for people living up to Maseok on the Gyeongchun Line which will have increased service with the GTX service on the Gyeongchun Line (which is not saturated, so the GTX should mean higher frequency of trains in total from Sinnae to Maseok).
But what's even more interesting is whether or not the GTX Line B (if indeed built underground) can alleviate some of the problems of saturation of the line. And I think this matter has not been finalized by the authorities. The double tracks built for GTX service seem to be able to hold a bit more service than only GTX traffic. With GTX being a sort of a hybrid between a subway and a commuter rail, its frequency will be a bit lower than that of subway. This is why the GTX A will be able to partly share tracks with SRT, and the GTX C with subway Line 1. So, this might be what they will try to do here, to bring some service from some other lines on the section of GTX tracks between Mangu and Cheongnyangni. The best candidate would likely be Gyeongchun Line traffic, which would allow the rest of the existing line to be dedicated to Gyeonggui-Jungang Service as well as train service to the Gyeonggang and Jungang Line. There are probably other alternative as well, such as having the GTX tracks be shared with the train services instead of sharing with the Gyeongchun subway service. There are other alternatives as well, and all depend on how they build the station platforms, which track is near which one and where in the network they set the connections for the lines to merge or separate. This is more a question of practical complex engineering than policy. But in all cases, if they do manage to take benefit of GTX to reduce saturation on the existing lines, this would be very important. Not only would GTX service (and Myeonmok and Gangbukhoengdan subway lines) would be added to the system, but if they find a way to use this line to absorb some traffic on the existing line, this could create additional benefits such as increasing the traffic of all the other lines passing through Cheongnyangni Station and which are currently suffering from the low frequency (Bundang Line, Gyeongui-Jungang Line, Gyeongchun Line, train service on the Jungang and Gyeonggang Line)












부동산민족(명문부동산) : 네이버 블로그







blog.naver.com










“청량리역 지하서 GTX-버스-택시 환승”


이르면 2027년 서울 동대문구 청량리역 지하에 광역환승센터가 들어선다. 기존 66개 버스 노선과 수도권 광역급행철도(GTX)-B, C노선과 면목선, 강북횡단선 등 4개 신설 노…



www.donga.com













청량리역, 광역교통 허브로 바뀐다


서울 동대문구 청량리역이 10개 노선이 지나는 수도권 광역교통 허브로 다시 태어난다. 국토교통부 대도시권광역교통위원회는 서울시, 한국철도시설공단, 한국철도공사와 함께 청량리역을 강북의 활성화 거점으로 육..




www.sedaily.com













국토부 “109년 역사 청량리역, 수도권 광역교통 허브 탈바꿈”


109년 역사의 청량리역이 교통·일자리 등이 어우러지는 수도권 광역교통 허브로 재탄생한다.국토교통부(장관 김현미) 대도시권광역교통위원회(위원장 최기주, 이하 대광위)는 서울특별시(시장 박원순), 한국철도시설공단(이사장 김상균), 한국철도공사(사장 손병석) 등과 함께 청량리역을 강북의 활성화 거점으로 육성하기 위한 ‘청량리역 공간구조 개선 및 광역환승센터 기본구상 연구용역’에 본격 착수한다고 밝혔다.본 용역은 대도시권 광역교통의 기본구상인 ‘광역교통 2030’의 일환으로 수도권광역급행철도(GTX)를 중심으로 연계성을 강화해 환승시간을




www.electimes.com


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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

(technically not a high-speed rail project, but an important project nonetheless with important ramifications for the entire Korean rail network)
*Approval for the construction of the Donghae Line Northern Section*

The South Korean government has decided to move forward with the construction of the Donghae Northern Section (Bukbu) Line, as part of its inter-Korean railroad collaboration project. It has decided that this project will be exempted from the KDI's feasibility study, which could pave the way for construction to start within as early as 2 years.

Of course, the relationship with North Korea is still strained, and there are many uncertainties about the countries mending their relations, so it's far from certain that it will be possible to travel from South Korea to North Korea any time soon. As of today, it's not even sure that Kim Jung-Un is alive.

But actually, for this project, the state of the relations with North Korea doesn't matter all that much. Asyou can see on this map this is a purely domestic project.

Today, the Donghae Line's northernmost point is Gangneung, and the line will within the next 2 to 3 years reach all the way to Busan, once the current construction of the central section and line upgrades are completed. The line stops North of Gangneung. But actually, there is one existing station, which is Jejin, which is built just South of the DMZ and physically connected to Gamho (or Kamho) Station in North Korea, and then onto the rest of the North Korean network, technically connecting with China, Russia and the rest of Europe.

This line between Kamho and Jejin was built a couple of decades ago during the first thaw between the two Koreas. Today, there are no trains passing by, but if the situation improve, trains could go from North Korea to Jejin, on the South Korean side just south of the DMZ. The purpose of the new project is to link Jejin (currently separated from the rest of the South Korean network) to the rest of the Donghae Line.

To do so, a 110.9km line will be built between Gangneung and Jejin, with stops at Jumunjin, Yangyang, Sokcho and Ganseong Station. It will be a single-track and electrified line.

As I recently mentioned, the line will also connect at Sokcho Station with the Dongseo Higher Speed Rail line connecting Sokcho with Chuncheon and then Seoul through the Gyeongchun Line, making it easier to connect the Donghae Bukbu Line with Seoul and the rest of the network.

So whether or not the line eventually brings service to or from North Korea is another matter, but even if it doesn't, it will be an important line for the balanced development of South Korea.

Of course, on the Northern side, even if the lines are connected with the South, the rail conditions are far from optimal, so improvements are likely to be necessary in the North Korean side as well. There are also two historical lines connecting South with North Korea: the Gyeongui Line, which was the most important line connecting Seoul with Gaeseong (Kaesong), Pyeongyang (Pyongyang) and Uiju to the Chinese border; and the Gyeongwon Line connecting Seoul to Wonsan in North Korea. Today, the Gyeongui Line is part of the Gyeongui-Jungang Line which has seubway service, and the Gyeongwon Line has mostly Subway Line 1 service from Yongsan to Cheongyangni, and then from Cheongnyangni up North to Soyosan (with the line further extending to the North). But for both the Gyeongui and the Gyeongwon Line, reconnecting the lines would involve rebuilding the actual rail sections on both sides and within the DMZ, and so a concerted effort from both Koreas, which is far less likely to happen, at least in the near future.

So this Donghae Bukbu Line will be the first and only line to physically truly connect the North and South Korean networks.

As mentioned, construction could start as early as 2022, with a completion sometimes between 2027 and 2030. The cost of the project is over USD 2 bn.
















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## kimahrikku1 (Dec 24, 2012)

*MOLIT to announce masterplan for top speed of 400kph for KTX on regular customer service*

A project which has been discussed, announced and delayed before, MOLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) is planning to announce a new masterplan in early 2021 regarding the increase of the top speed of the KTX from 305 to 400kph on regular service.

Korean rail technology has already reached 421kph in tests (with the HEMU-400X prototype), so it's definitely possible for trains to reach that speed in Korea. The EMU-320 train (or EMU-300) should also be able to reach a commercial speed of 320kph, and will enter service next year.

The issue is mostly with safety, tunnel, noises, signalling and capacity, as well as economic feasibility.

Reaching a commercial speed of 400kph would of course be a significant technological achievement. It would also be a source of pride for Korea, and could help make Korea a leader in the export of high speed trains.

As for the travel time, it would potentially cut travel time between Seoul and Busan from around 2 hours 30 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes. Assuming that all technical issues are solved (signalling, tunnels, noise...), it would be quite significant, but not a revolution either. Unlike in Japan or China, high speed rail is already dominant over air travel on most domestic routes, so it wouldn't drastically change the balance between air and rail which has already tipped towards rail. What it may help is the balance versus cars. Koreans do love to drive, and saving almost 50 additional minutes to Busan could help some switch to trains. But it remains dubious if the KTX can really reduce the travel time to around 1:40. Without rebuilding the existing tracks, there may be some limitations as to how much the travel time can be reduced, which was already highlighted in simulations done a couple of years ago. And in order to reach around 1:40, this would mean that trains would likely not be able to make more than 2 intermediate stops (at Daejeon and Daegu), or maybe no stops at all. Besides the issue of train scheduling, it's also complicated for political reasons. Smaller stations (Cheonan, Osong, Gumi-Gimcheon, Gyeongju, Ulsan, Jeongeup, Gongju...) are already fighting to keep more service, and having the top-class trains only stopping at the main cities would be opposed politically.

The other main issue is of course capacity. Technically, having trains reach a commercial speed of 400kph would likely be doable almost right now... in the middle of the night. The Gyeongbu Line is already saturated in some sections, and adding some new service, even at current speed, is almost impossible. Adding service at a different top speed would be even more complicated due to the need to have the 400kph trains overtake the other ones, which can only be done at stations as tracks are not quadrupled. If they wanted to, they could only have the trains run at 400kph on small small sections, and would require "regular" KTX to stop longer at stations to be overtaken or to reduce the overall number of trains. However, the good news is that they are planning to quadruple the tracks between Pyeongtaek and Osong to increase capacity on the busiest section. One key would also be to build new tracks between Gwangmyeong and Seoul (which is already under consideration all the way between Gwangmyeong and Susaek, with a dedicated tunnel). Not only the current tracks are saturated, but there are slow (they're using the original Gyeongbu Line along with the Line 1 subway). If the Gwangmyeong-Susaek tunnel is built, it would not only increase capacity, but allow trains to go from the 2 stations faster (it takes around 15 minutes to cover only 22km right now). Still, there are challenges on the Gyeongbu HSR line south of Osong, as 400kph trains would need to overtake the slower 300kph trains between Osong and Busan, which can currently only be done at stations.

Interestingly, this project maybe has more potential for the Honam HSR line, for 3 reasons:

The line is more modern than the Gyeongbu HSR line and there are very few turns along the line. Improving the speed on this line would be easier, at least until Gwangju
The line is not saturated, so it would be easier to bring additional service without impacting the timetable of the existing trains as well
A bit of a long-term "fantasy project", but there are still talks of bringing the KTX to Jeju. It's not being considered very actively right now, but could come back in the spotlight for 2 main reasons. Firstly, the current airport is saturated (at least before the coronavirus situation), and while the government has been planning to build a new one in Seogwipo, this project has run into more and more opposition. If traffic reverts to pre-coronavirus and pre-THAAD levels, and the airport is not built, it will become more complicated to increase air traffic to Jeju. Secondly, Lee Nak-yeon (previous PM and former South Jeolla Governor), which is currently the favorite to become the next president, is known to be a strong supporter of this project. If he becomes president, it could certainly help the project. One issue with the KTX extension to Jeju (besides of course environmental concerns and the costs), is that it would not be able to compete with air transport for many people, especially those leaving near Seoul. Currently, it takes around 2:30 to reach Mokpo from Seoul, and the 167km extension to Jeju would probably take around an hour or so, so around 3 hours from Seoul to Jeju. If they improve the top speed to 400kph, it would likely be possible to reach Jeju in barely over 2 hours, which would be competitive for many people.

So, what I planned on being just a short update turned out to be once again a big digression on the future of rail travel once again... sorry. But overall, while as a rail enthusiast and a potential customer, I am intrigued by the possibility of having a 400kph. As someone who knows the infrastructure right now, I am a bit more sceptic. South Korea is a bit small for 400kph to make a huge difference, and the various capacity issues would create some bottlenecks. Now of course, if the Pyeongtaek-Osong section and the Gwangmyeong-Susaek section get built, this would be a game changer. And of course, if we have KTX to Jeju (or even North Korea), this would make 400kph service even more interesting.

So, while we may have some very limited service with top speeds of 400kph in the nex 5~7 years, I don't expect that it will be possible to reach 1:40 kph before at least 10 years on the Gyeongbu and Honam lines. We will see...
























[단독] 시속 400㎞ 초고속열차 도입 본격화…내년 초 마스터플랜 수립


최고 시속 430㎞의 초고속열차 ‘해무(HEMU-430X)’를 여객운송에 투입하기 위한 인프라 조성사업이 본격화될 전망이다. 해무가 상용화되면 서울에서 부산까지 고속철도(KTX)로 2시간30분이 걸리던 것이 1시간30분으로 줄어든다. 25일 국토교통부에 따르면 정부는 기존 KTX 시속 300㎞급 선로 등을 400㎞급으로 개량하는 초고속열차 종합계획을 내년 초까지 마련할 방침이다. 국토부 관계자는 “최근 ‘400㎞급 고속철도 종합계획...



news.heraldcorp.com













‘서울→부산’ 1시간 10분이면 가는 시속 400㎞ ‘초고속열차’ 곧 도입된다


최고 시속 430km의 초고속 열차 ‘해무(HEMU-430X)’를 여객운송에 투입하기 위한 인프라 조성 사업이 본격화될 전망이다.




www.insight.co.kr










시속 400㎞ 초고속열차 도입 속도


최고 시속 430㎞의 초고속열차 ‘해무(HEMU-430X)’를 여객운송에 투입하기 위한 인프라 조성사업이 본격화 될 전망이다. 해무가 상용화되면 서울에서 부산까지 고속철도(KTX)로 2시간 반이 걸리던 것이 1시간 반으로 줄어든다. 25일 국토교통부에 따르면 정부는 기존 KTX 시속 300㎞급 선로 등을 400㎞급으로 개량하는 초고속열차 종합계획을 내년 초까지 마련할 방침이다. 국토부 관계자는 “최근 ‘400㎞급 고속철도 종합계획(마...



 news.heraldcorp.com


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

A tunnel to Jeju seems like it'll be a necessity to meet future CO2 reduction goals.

I feel like any smaller city that campaigns for KTX service should need to demonstrate that they're going to build up the areas around the stations to create ridership. I grant that some stations are just far away from the cities they nominally serve--SinGyeongju, Ulsan, and Gimcheon-Gumi jump to mind--but so many of these stations are not far outside of their cities, and their cities appear to be making bare-minimal efforts to develop the areas around them.

I'd think that it's far more important to increase the quantity of service than the absolute speed. That tunnel from Osan to Pyeongtaek can't come soon enough.


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## bifhihher (Apr 1, 2015)

Also: wouldn't it be more interesting to connect Korea to Japan if such tunnels are to be envisioned ?
It's possible to do and would allow greater trade between Korea, Japan (& maybe China and beyond)


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

....I mean, yes, but it would be a substantially more expensive project, and first and foremost, Japanese-Korean relations are always on shaky ground, and are especially so now. 

It _should_ happen, but of course that doesn't mean that it will in any of our lifetimes.


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