Korea Train Express

Logo	KTX logo.png
Logowidth	67px
Caption	A KTX-I in Seoul Station.
Hangul	한국고속철도
Hanja	韓國高速鐵道
Mr	Han-guk Kosok Ch'ŏldo
Rr	Han-guk Gosok Cheoldo

Korea Train eXpress (KTX) is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the first section of the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. The project was later split into two phases and combined with conventional line upgrades, adding a second route from Seoul to Mokpo. The system's technology is largely based on the French TGV/LGV system, but domestic development based on transferred technology began early. A more detailed 1978-1981 study by KAIST, focusing on the needs of freight transport, also came to the conclusion that separating long-distance passenger traffic on a high-speed passenger railway would be advisable, and it was adopted in the following Korean Five Year Plan.

During the following years, several feasibility studies were prepared for a high-speed line with a Seoul–Busan travel time of 1 hour 30 minutes, which gave positive results. In 1989, following the go-ahead for the project, the institutions to manage its preparation were established: the Gyeongbu High Speed Electric Railway & New International Airport Committee, and the High Speed Electric Railway Planning Department (later renamed HSR Project Planning Board). In 1990, the planned Seoul–Busan travel time was 1 hour 51 minutes, the project was to be completed by August 1998, and costs were estimated at 5.85 trillion South Korean won in 1988 prices, 4.6 trillion of which were to be spent on infrastructure, the remainder on rolling stock.

As planning progressed, the Korea High Speed Rail Construction Authority (KHSRCA) was established in March 1992 as a separate body with its own budget responsible for the project. In the 1993 reappraisal of the project, the completion date was pushed back to May 2002, and cost estimates grew to 10.74 trillion won. 82% of the cost increase was due to a 90% increase in unit costs in the construction sector, mostly labour costs but also material costs, and the remainder due to alignment changes. To finance the project, the option of a build-operate-transfer (BOT) franchise was rejected as too risky. Funding included direct government grants (35%), government (10%) and foreign (18%) loans, domestic bond sales (31%) and private capital (6%).

Creation of the system

Start of high-speed line construction

KHSRCA started construction of the Seoul–Busan Gyeongbu High Speed Railway (Gyeongbu HSR) on June 30, 1992, on the long section from Cheonan to Daejeon, which was intended for use as test track.

Construction started before the choice of the main technology supplier, thus alignment design was set out to be compatible with all choices. Of the planned line, would be laid on bridges, and another in tunnels. However, plans were changed repeatedly, in particular those for city sections, following disputes with local governments, while construction work suffered from early quality problems. Planned operating speed was also reduced from to the maximum of high-speed trains on the market. Three competitors bid for the supply of the core system, which included the rolling stock, catenary and signalling: consortia led by GEC-Alsthom, today Alstom, one of the builders of France's TGV trains; Siemens, one of the builders of Germany's ICE trains; and Mitsubishi, one of the builders of Japan's Shinkansen trains. In 1994, the alliance of GEC-Alsthom and its Korean subsidiary Eukorail were chosen as winner.

The technology was almost identical to that found on the high-speed lines of France's TGV system. Track-related design specifications included a design speed of and standard gauge.

Phase 1: Seoul–Daegu and conventional line upgrades

Following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the government decided to realise the Gyeongbu HSR in two phases. In a first phase, two-thirds of the high-speed line between the southwestern suburbs of Seoul and Daegu would be finished by 2004, with trains travelling along the parallel conventional line along the rest of the Seoul–Busan route. The upgrade and electrification of these sections of the Gyeongbu Line was added to the project, and also the upgrade and electrification of the Honam Line from Daejeon to Mokpo, providing a second route for KTX services. The budget for the first phase was set at 12,737.7 billion won, that for the entire project at 18,435.8 billion won in 1998 prices. While the share of government contributions remained unchanged, the share of foreign loans, domestic bond sales and private capital changed to 24%, 29% and 2%.

The infrastructure and rolling stock were created in the framework of a technology transfer agreement, which paired up Korean companies with core system supplier Alstom and its European subcontractors for different subsystems. Alstom's part of the project amounted to US$2.1 billion The high-speed section itself included of viaducts and of tunnels. Conventional line electrification was finished over the across Daegu and on to Busan, the across Daejeon, and the from Daejeon to Mokpo and Gwangju. After 12 years of construction and with a final cost of 12,737.7 billion won,

Phase 2: Daegu–Busan, extra stations, urban sections

The Daegu–Busan section of the Gyeongbu HSR became a separate project with the July 1998 project revision, with a budget of 5,698.1 billion won, with funding from the government and private sources by the same ratios as for phase 1. In August 2006, the project was modified to again include the Daejeon and Daegu urban area passages, as well as additional stations along the phase 1 section. For these additions, the budget as well as the government's share of the funding was increased.

Construction started in June 2002. The line, which follows a long curve to the northeast of the existing Gyeongbu Line, includes 54 viaducts with a total length of and 38 tunnels with a total length of . The two largest structures are the Geomjeung Tunnel, under Mount Geumjeong at the Busan end of the line; and the Wonhyo Tunnel, under Mount Cheonseong south-west of Ulsan, which will be the longest and second longest tunnels in Korea once the line is opened.

A long dispute concerning the environmental impact assessment of the Wonhyo Tunnel, which passes under a wetland area, The dispute gained nationwide and international attention due to the repeated hunger strikes of a Buddhist nun, led to a suspension of works in 2005, and only ended with a supreme court ruling in June 2006. With the exception of the sections across Daejeon and Daegu, the second phase went into service on November 1, 2010. By that time, 4,905.7 billion won was spent out of a second phase budget, or 17,643.4 billion won out of the total.

Further upgrades of connecting conventional lines

The electrification and the completion of the re-alignment and double-tracking of the Jeolla Line, which branches from the Honam Line at Iksan and continues to Suncheon and Yeosu, began in December 2003, with the aim to introduce KTX services in time for the Expo 2012 in Yeosu. The section of the perpendicular Gyeongjeon Line from Samnangjin, the junction with the Gyeongbu Line near Busan, to Suncheon is upgraded in a similar way, with track doubling, alignment modifications and electrification for . The upgrade is to be complete until Jinju by 2012 and Suncheon by 2014.

The Ulsan–Gyeongju–Pohang section of the Donghae Nambu Line is foreseen for an upgrade in a completely new alignment that circumvents downtown Gyeongju and connects to the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway at Singyeongju Station, allowing for direct KTX access to the two cities. On April 23, 2009, the project was approved by the government and a ground-breaking ceremony was held.

On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. The main new element of the plan is to aim for top speeds of in upgrades of much of the mainline network with view to the introduction of KTX services. the first plans for a second, separate high-speed line from Seoul to Mokpo were developed into the project of a line branching from the Gyeongbu HSR and constructed in two stages, the Honam High Speed Railway (Honam HSR). The budget for the first stage, from the new Osong Station on the Gyongbu HSR to Gwangju·Songjeong Station, was set at 8,569.5 billion won. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on December 4, 2009. As of September 2010, progress was 9.6% of the project budget then estimated at 10,490.1 billion won for the first phase, which was due for completion in 2014, while the estimate for the entire line stood at 12,101.7 billion won.

First plans for the Honam HSR foresaw a terminus in Suseo Station, southeast Seoul. in June 2008. Detailed design of the line is underway since September 2010, with opening planned by the end of 2014. For the longer term, new high-speed lines from Seoul to Sokcho on the eastern coast, and a direct branch from the Gyeongbu HSR south to Jinju and further to the coast are under consideration. The line would include a bridge from Haenam to Bogul Island and a undersea tunnel from Bogil Island to Jeju Island (with a drilling station on Chuja Island), for an estimated cost of US$10 billion.

Rolling stock

KTX-I

The initial KTX-I trainsets, also known as simply KTX or as TGV-K, are based on the TGV Réseau, but with several differences. The 20-car electric multiple units consist of two traction heads, that is powered end cars without passenger compartment, and eighteen articulated passenger cars, of which the two extreme ones have one motorised bogie each. A KTX-I was built to carry up to 965 passengers at a regular top speed of , and NG-KTX, and was later officially re-named Hanvit 350. Test runs were conducted between 2002 and 2008,

KTX-II

For less frequented relations and for operational flexibility, a 2001 study proposed a train created by scaling down the planned commercial version of the HSR-350x, by shortening the train, removing powered bogies from intermediate cars, and lowering top speed. Hyundai Rotem received orders for altogether 24 such trains, called KTX-II, in three batches from July 2006 to December 2008.

Design speed is , and revenue service speed is . The power electronics uses newer technology than the HSR-350x, and the front is a new design, too. The trainsets, of which two can be coupled together, consist of two traction heads and eight articulated passenger cars, and seat 363 passengers in two classes, with enhanced comfort relative to the KTX-I. The domestic added value of the trains was increased to 87%, compared to 58% for the KTX-I. Imported parts include the pantographs, semiconductors in the power electronics, front design, couplers and final drives.

The KTX-II was officially renamed as KTX-Sancheon (Hangul: KTX-산천) after the Korean name of the indigenous fish cherry salmon before the first units started commercial service on March 2, 2010.

However within weeks of its initial launch, mechanical and design flaws began to appear, in some cases causing trains to stop running and forcing passengers to leave the train and walk back to the station, and in one particular case derailing from the tracks on February 11th, 2011. Although the trains were designed to be a domestically-built replacement for the French built Alstrom trains, due to over 30 malfunctions since March 2nd 2010, Korail asked manufacturer Hyundai-Rotem to recall all 19 of the trains in operation after finding cracks in two anchor bands in May 2011.

HEMU-400X

In 2007, an alliance of government research institutes, universities and private companies launched the project to build a second experimental high-speed train, named HEMU-400X. With a budget of 97.4 billion won and a timetable lasting 6 years, the aim was to develop an experimental train capable of reaching in tests, as a basis for commercial trains operating at . Unlike all previous South Korean high-speed trains, the 6-car HEMU-400X will be fitted with distributed traction. Detailed plans were presented in October 2010, when the train was expected to be completed in 2011 and to start line tests in 2012. KTX-III was intended to cut Seoul-Busan travel times to 1 hour 50 minutes with a maximum operating speed of .

Services

KTX services are grouped according to their route, and within the groups, the stopping pattern changes from train to train. over a travel distance of . with a travel time of 2 hours 8 minutes. Once the sections across Daejeon and Daegu are completed, cutting the Seoul–Busan travel distance to , From November 1, 2010, when most Gyeongbu KTX services began to use the new Daegu–Busan high-speed section, some trains remained on the Gyeongbu Line on that section, and additional trains began to use the Gyeongbu Line on the Seoul–Daejeon section to serve Suwon.

KTX trains using the Gyeongbu HSR only from Seoul to Daejeon and continuing all along the Honam Line are operated as the Honam KTX service. In 2004, the new service with a route length of between Yongsan in Seoul and Mokpo cut minimum travel time from 4 hours 42 minutes to 2 hours 58 minutes. over the long route between Seoul and Masan. The service is to be extended to Jinju by 2012. From 2014, with the completion of the first phase of the Honam HSR, the travel time is reduce further to 2 hours 25 minutes. From 2015, KTX trains are to reach Pohang from Seoul in 1 hour 50 minutes.

Korail also plans to run some through KTX services to Incheon International Airport on the AREX line from 2012. KTX trains have no restaurant cars or bars, only seat service.

Ticket prices

KTX fares were designed to be about halfway between those for conventional trains and airline tickets. The fare system implemented at the start of service in April 2004 deviated from prices proportional with distance, to favour long-distance trips. On April 25, 2005, fares were selectively reduced for relations under-performing most. From November 1, 2006, due to rising energy prices, The price of a Seoul-Busan Standard Class ticket increased to 48,100 won. From July 1, 2007, KTX fares wee hiked another 6.5%, while those for the slower Saemaeul and Mugunghwa services on the parallel conventional route were raised by 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. However, new reduced weekday and unassigned seat fares were also introduced.

Discounts

Korail's standard discounts for children, disabled, seniors and groups apply on KTX trains, too. For frequent travellers, Korail's standard discount cards, which are categorised according to age group, apply with the double of the standard discount rates; while discount cards for business and government agency workers apply with the normal rate; both types of discounts are up to 30%. For passengers using the Korea-Japan Joint Rail Pass, a joint offer of Korail, Japanese railways and ferry services, the discount on KTX trains is 30%.

Passenger numbers and usage

Forecasts

When the project was launched, KTX was expected to become one of the world's busiest high-speed lines. The first study in 1991 forecast around 200,000 passengers a day in the first year of operation, growing to 330,000 passengers a day twelve years later. In forecasts prepared after the decision to split the project into two phases, the expected first year ridership of Gyeongbu KTX services was reduced by about 40%. With the estimate for the Honam KTX services added to the plan, opening year forecasts ranged between 150,000 and 175,000 passengers a day.

In October 2010, before the opening of the second phase, Korail expected ridership to rise from the then current 106,000 to 135,000 passengers a day.

Ridership evolution

KTX was introduced on 1 April 2004. In the first 100 days, daily passenger numbers averaged 70,250, generating an operational revenue of about 2.11 billion won per day, 54% of what was expected. However, ridership increased by over a third on the Gyeongbu KTX and over a half on the Honam KTX in two years. Daily operating profit rose to 2.8 billion won by December 2005, when financial break-even was forecast at a ridership level of around 100,000 passengers a day, which was expected by the end of 2006.

The 100 millionth rider was carried after 1116 days of operation on April 22, 2007, when cumulative income stood at 2.78 trillion won. KTX finances moved into the black in 2007. The next year, with revenues equal to US$898 million and costs equal to US$654 million, KTX was Korail's most profitable branch.

By the sixth anniversary in April 2010, KTX trains travelled a total 122.15 million kilometres, carrying 211.01 million passengers. Punctuality gradually improved from 86.7% of trains arriving within 5 minutes of schedule in 2004 to 98.3% in 2009. With lower ticket prices, by 2008, KTX has swallowed up around half of the airlines' previous demand between Seoul and Busan (falling from 5.3 million passengers in 2003 to 2.4 million). Though some low-cost carriers failed and withdrew from the route, others still planned to enter competition even at the end of 2008. Budget airlines achieved a 5.6% growth in August 2009 over the same month a year earlier while KTX ridership decreased by 1.3%, a trend change credited to the opening of Seoul Subway Line 9, which improved Gimpo International Airport's connection to southern Seoul.

In the first two months after the launch of the second phase of the Gyeongbu HSR, passenger numbers on flights between Gimpo and Ulsan Airports dropped 35.4% compared to the same period a year earlier, those between Gimpo and Pohang Airports 13.2%. Between Gimpo Airport and Busan's Gimhae International Airport, airline passenger numbers remained stable (+0.2%), as a consequence of a budget airline competing with large discounts and aggressive marketing.

Technical and operational issues

State of infrastructure

Lawmakers criticised the safety of Korail's tunnels after the Ministry of Construction and Transportation submitted data to the National Assembly on June 13, 2005. The ministry added fire prevention standards to high-speed line design standards only in November 2003, thus they weren't applied to the by then finished tunnels of the first phase of KTX. Consequently, few tunnels had emergency exits, and in high-speed railway tunnels, the average walking distance in case of an emergency was , with a maximum of , against a norm of emergency exits every in other countries. A contingency plan for fires in KTX tunnels was incorporated into a national disaster manual in November 2005.

On October 5, 2008, it was revealed by lawmakers that inside Hwanghak Tunnel, from December 2004, inspectors have monitored the progression of several cracks and minor track displacements, which continued after maintenance work in March–April 2007 and again in March 2008. The operator claimed that a February 2007 on-site inspection found the problems not safety-relevant, but pledged further maintenance, and an investigation into the causes was launched. Tunnel reinforcement was under way in 2010.

Incidents and accidents

Operation irregularities mostly concerned the rolling stock, but also signalling, power glitches and track problems. The number of incidents decreased from 28 in the first month to 8 in the fifth. The failure rate decreased sharply by the fifth year of operation. Causes for breakdowns in the first years of operation involved inexperienced staff and insufficient inspection during maintenance.

Lawmakers from the Grand National Party published an investigation in October 2006 and expressed concern about the practice to use parts from other trains for spare parts, but Korail stated that that is standard practice in case of urgency with no safety effect, and the supply of spare parts is secured. Korail is also conducting a localisation program to develop replacements for two dozen imported parts.

On November 3, 2007, an arriving KTX-I train collided with a parked KTX-I train inside Busan Station, resulting in material damage of 10 billion won and light injuries to two persons. and led to the trial and conviction of the driver. The railway union criticised single driver operation in conjunction with the two and a half hours rest time the driver had between shifts.

On February 11, 2011, a KTX-Sancheon train when travelling at around . No casualties were reported, only one passenger suffered slight injury, but KTX traffic was blocked until repairs for 29 hours. Preliminary investigation indicated that the accident resulted from a series of human errors.

Passenger comfort and convenience

Passenger surveys in the first months found that the limited capacity of bus connections and the lack of subway connections for intermediate stations, especially the newly built stations Gwangmyeong and Cheonan-Asan, was the problem mentioned most often. A better connection to Cheonan-Asan Station was provided by an extension of Seoul Subway Line 1 along the Janghang Line, opened on December 14, 2008. Gwangmyeong Station was linked to the same subway line by a shuttle service on December 15, 2006, but it made little impact due to the long time differences between KTX and subway train schedules.

The noise level in the trains during tunnel passages was also subject to passenger complaints. However, measurements in 2009 found significantly higher interior noise levels at some locations in two tunnels. Window thickness and sound insulation was improved in the KTX-II.

The isolation of KTX-I trains against pressure variations during tunnel passages

See also

Tilting Train Express

Transportation in South Korea

List of Korea-related topics

References

; Citations

; Bibliography

External links

KTX : Visitseoul - Official Seoul City Tourism

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