KTX to Connect Yeosu and Seoul by September

 

The KTX bullet train service will be extended to Yeosu, South Jeolla Province by the end of September, ahead of the 2012 Yeosu World Expo.
An official at the Yeosu World Expo Organizing Committee said visitors to the expo will find the service convenient since Yeosu Station is just a five-minute walk from the expo grounds. The KTX Sancheon high-speed train will ferry passengers from Seoul to Yeosu and back.
The bullet train will shorten travel time from five hours and 13 minutes to three hours and 20 minutes.

source: chosun

PR invites South Korean railways to operate its five trains

Pakistan Railways has invited South Korean Railways to operate its five trains on various routes that are running in deficit, General Manager Operations, Ishfaq Khataq told media here at the PR Headquarters on Monday.
He said South Korean Railway experts have agreed to train Pakistan railway staff and help restore infrastructure of the under-utilised railway network.
Earlier, South Korean railway delegation met with PR officials at the Railways headquarters and discussed various proposals to bring improvement in Pakistan Railways. Khataq said that Pakistan Railways needs at least 200 locomotives as early as possible to resume its normal operations and play its vital role in the economic development of the nation.
South Korea has offered us six locomotives of 3000 horsepower capacity, which is quiet insufficient, he added. After checking their performance we will precede further to upgrade our system GM further added. He said Pakistan railways has offered the South Korean Railways to run its trains on five routes with open access policy. South Korean trains will operate on Lahore-Faisalabad, Lahore-Gujarat-Gujranwala, Lahore-Kasur and Wagha routes. He said that delegation would soon send feasibility report regarding trains operation.

source: Business Recorder

Daegu-Busan KTX Route Completed

 

 

The second phase of the Seoul-Busan high-speed railway connecting the southeastern city of Daegu with the southern port city of Busan was completed on Thursday, reducing the travel time from Seoul to Busan by 22 minutes to two hours and 18 minutes.
Service on the new route will officially begin on Monday at 5 a.m. A ceremony Thursday to mark the opening of the new route was attended by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Chung Jong-hwan and Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik.

Construction of the new route began eight years ago and a total of W7.95 trillion (US$1=W1,117) was spent on the project. Now the entire 417.5 km high-speed railway has been completed 19 years since construction started at a total cost of W20.73 trillion.
"The government plans to boost the role of the railways and reduce dependence on roads and expand the bullet train network so that it is possible to reach any part of the country within an hour and a half," the prime minister said.
With the opening of the new route, the transport ministry expects the number of daily KTX users to rise about 27 percent from 106,000 to 135,000.

source: Chosun

Korea's HEMU-400X high speed train to roll in 2011

SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai Rotem plans to complete a prototype of the HEMU-400X high speed train during 2011. Launched as the Hanvit 400 project in 2007, the HEMU-400X is a distributed power trainset with a design speed of 400 km/h.

With four axles powered by synchronous induction motors on each car, the prototype is due to undergo two years of 'stabilisation tests', according to Kim Ha Min, Research Engineer in Hyundai Rotem’s R&D Centre. Only after extensive trials would a decision be taken on whether to progress to a production build.

Featuring 3100 mm wide aluminium bodies, the HEMU-400X prototype will have a low static axleload of just 13 tonnes, comparable to some of the Shinkansen trainsets in Japan. The end cars will be 255 m long and the intermediate cars 2 m shorter; a 200 m long train would offer seats for 334 passengers.

The HEMU-400X is being designed for possible use on an ultra-high speed line that is proposed for construction parallel to the existing Seoul – Busan high speed route used by KTX services. Although the train’s design speed is 400 km/h, it would normally be limited to 370 km/h in commercial service.

source: railwaygazette