KTX is the name of the high-speed rail service in Korea, begun April 2004. The KTX runs from Seoul to Busan as well as from Seoul to Mokpo, but at present it only runs at high speed (300 kph+) from Seoul to Daegu. From Daegu further south there is no need to change trains, but the tracks are not yet ready for high-speed rail and the speed drops to somewhere a bit above 100 kph. The total travel time at present is as follows:

↓ 1st class → Economy class Price in won Haengshin 7,000 7,000 12,900 20,800 36,200 41,000 44,700 46,100 11,200 Seoul 7,000 11,400 19,500 34,900 39,700 43,400 44,800 11,200 11,200 Gwang- myeong 9,500 17,300 32,800 37,700 41,500 42,700 18,100 16,000 13,300 Cheonan Asan 7,900 23,300 27,800 30,600 31,400 29,100 27,300 24,200 12,100 Daejeon 15,400 19,200 22,700 24,000 50,700 48,900 45,900 32,600 21,600 Dongdaegu 7,000 8,600 10,100 57,400 55,600 52,800 38,900 26,900 11,200 Miryang 7,000 7,000 62,600 60,800 58,100 42,800 31,800 12,800 11,200 Gupo 7,000 64,500 62,700 59,800 44,000 33,600 14,100 11,200 11,200 Busan

↓ 1st class → Economy class Price in won Haengshin 7,000 7,000 12,900 20,900 22,600 24,400 27,100 28,400 29,900 32,700 34,600 35,600 39,600 34,900 11,200 Yongsan 7,000 11.100 19,300 21,000 22,900 25,500 26,900 28,300 31,100 33,100 34,000 38,000 33,300 11,200 11,200 Gwangmyeong 9,500 17,400 19,200 21,500 24,400 25,700 27,300 28,800 31,100 32,100 35,900 32,000 18,100 15,500 13,300 Cheonan Asan 8,000 9,200 11,000 13,500 14,900 17,200 20,100 21,900 23,300 27,700 23,000 29,300 27,000 24,400 12,200 Seodaejeon 7,000 7,000 7,100 8,700 11,000 13,900 15,800 17,100 21,600 16,800 31,600 29,500 26,900 13,400 11,200 Gyeryong 7,000 7,000 7,000 9,200 12,100 14,100 15,400 19,800 15,100 34,200 32,100 30,100 15,400 11,200 11,200 Nonsan 7,000 7,000 7,000 9,900 11,800 13,200 17,600 12,800 37,900 35,700 34,200 18,900 11,300 11,200 11,200 Iksan 7,000 7,000 7,000 8,500 10,000 14,400 9,600 39,800 37,700 36,000 20,900 12,900 11,200 11,200 11,200 Gimje 7,000 7,000 7,000 8,400 12,800 8,100 41,900 39,600 38,200 24,100 15,400 13,400 11,200 11,200 11,200 Jeongeup 7,000 7,000 7,000 10,600 7,000 45,800 43,500 40,300 28,100 19,500 16,900 14,100 11,200 11,200 11,200 Jangseong 7,000 7,000 7,800 7,000 48,400 46,300 43,500 30,700 22,100 19,700 16,500 12,700 11,200 11,200 11,200 Songjeongni 7,000 7,000 - 49,800 47,600 44,900 32,600 23,900 21,600 18,500 14,200 12,600 11,200 11,200 11,200 Naju 7,000 - 55,400 53,200 50,300 38,800 30,200 27,700 24,600 20,200 17,900 14,800 12,000 11,200 11,200 Mokpo - 48,900 46,600 44,800 32,200 23,500 21,100 17,900 13,800 12,300 11,200 11,200 - - - Gwangju

[edit] History

After 12 years of construction, the Gyeongbu Line (connecting Seoul to Busan via Daejeon and Daegu) and the Honam Line (Seoul to Gwangju and Mokpo) opened on March 31, 2004. Using high-speed track for only a part of the distance (Seoul-Daegu), the new line cuts travel time between Seoul and Busan from 260 minutes to 160 minutes; a further improvement to 116 minutes is expected in 2008, when the train shifts to run fully on high-speed tracks.

In all, 46 trains will be built: twelve in France by Alstom, the remaining in South Korea by local manufacturers. The tracks were built with the technical help of SNCF technicians.

Construction of the second phase linking Daegu and Gyeongju to Busan started in June 2002 and is expected to be complete by 2010. High-speed track for the section from Osong to Gwangju and Mokpo is also planned, with a tentative target date of 2017. [1] A spur line from Seoul to Gangneung, on the northeast coast, is under consideration, and is linked to the Korean bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

[edit] Ridership

When introduced in April 2004, KTX ridership was an average of 70,900 passengers per day, 70% below initial expectations. While earning an operational profit of about 2.1 billion won per day, this amount was insufficient to service the loans, as the construction cost grew from an initial estimate of 5 trillion to an actual 18 trillion Korean won (approx. 5 billion to 18 billion US dollars). On January 14, 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hai Chan stated that KTX was a political failure.

Ridership has, however, slowly been increasing. On January 9, 2006, Korail reported that average daily ridership in December 2005 had reached 104,600, an increase of almost 50%, with daily operating profit up to 2.8 billion won and financial breakeven expected by early 2007. [2]

[edit] KR Pass

The KR Pass is a special rail pass introduced in 2005 for non-resident foreigners only, allowing unlimited travel for a set period on any Korail train (including KTX) and including free seat reservation. The pass is not valid for first class or sleeping cars, but you can upgrade for half price if you wish. The regular pass costs US$76/114/144/168 for 3/5/7/10 days, with additional discounts of 10-20% for youths (age 13-25), students and groups of 2-5 traveling together. Note that the pass must be purchased before arrival in South Korea, either via a travel agent or online.

[edit] External links

• Youtube video of KTX at 300+ kph

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_Train_Express. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License..