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KTX ( Korea Train eXpress, ) is the first high-speed rail system in South Korea, and is operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004.
The KTX services now radiate from Seoul Station toward destinations across the nation, competing against SRT services from Suseo station, except Jungbunaeryuk Line which depart from Pangyo station.
The current maximum operating speed for trains in regular service is , though the infrastructure is designed for .
The KTX-I was based on Alstom's TGV Réseau, and was partly built in Korea. The domestically developed HSR-350x, which achieved in tests, resulted in a second type of high-speed trains now operated by Korail, the KTX-Sancheon, which entered into commercial service in 2010.
The next generation experimental electric multiple unit prototype, HEMU-430X, achieved in 2013, making South Korea the world's fourth country after Japan, France and China to develop a high-speed train running on conventional rail above . It was further developed into commercialised variants, namely KTX-Eum and KTX-Cheongryong, with respective maximum service speeds of and , which entered into KTX services in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
The first proposals for a second Seoul–Busan railway line originated from a study prepared between 1972 and 1974 by experts from France's SNCF and the Japan Railway Technical Service on a request from the IBRD. 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 subsequent years, several feasibility studies were conducted for a high-speed line that aimed to reduce the travel time between Seoul and Busan to just 1 hour and 30 minutes. These studies yielded positive results. In 1989, after receiving the green light for the project, the necessary institutions were established to oversee its preparation. These institutions included the Gyeongbu High Speed Electric Railway & New International Airport Committee and the High Speed Electric Railway Planning Department, which was later renamed the HSR Project Planning Board. By 1990, the planned travel time between Seoul and Busan had been reduced to 1 hour and 51 minutes, and the project was scheduled 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. 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%).
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, Overhead wires 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 Heavy Industries, 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.
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 or €1.5 billion. Well ahead of the opening of the Gyeongbu HSR for regular service, in December 1999, of the test section, later extended to , was finished to enable trials with trains. After further design changes, the high-speed tracks were finished over a length of , with of interconnections to the conventional Gyeongbu Line, including at a short interruption at Daejeon. 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, the initial KTX system with the first phase of the Gyeongbu HSR went into service on April 1, 2004.
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 Geumjeongsan at the Busan end of the line; and the Wonhyo Tunnel, under Mount Cheonseong south-west of Ulsan, which became the longest and second longest tunnels in Korea once the line opened.
A long dispute concerning the environmental impact assessment of the Wonhyo Tunnel, which passes under a wetland area, caused delays for the entire project. 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 was spent out of a second phase budget, or ₩17,643.4 billion out of the total.
The two sections across the urban areas of Daejeon and Daegu, altogether , will be finished by 2014. As of October 2010, the total cost of the second phase was estimated at ₩7,945.4 billion, that for the entire project at ₩20,728.2 billion. The last element of the original project that was shelved in 1998, separate underground tracks across the Seoul metropolitan area, was re-launched in June 2008, when an initial plan with a long alignment and two new stations was announced.
AREX line, which link Seoul to the city's Incheon Airport, also see its speed raised from for KTX through-running service to other cities in the nation, however the through running service have been discontinued due to low usage. Busan – Incheon Airport KTX Was Canceled Due to Lack of Passengers
The Ulsan–Gyeongju–Pohang section of the Donghae Line is foreseen for an upgrade in a completely new alignment that circumvents downtown Gyeongju and connects to the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway at Gyeongju 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. The altogether line is slated to be opened in December 2014.
The line is currently served by SRT, not KTX.
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 train was developed on the basis of the transferred TGV technology, but more advanced technology was used for the new motors, power electronics and additional brake systems, while the passenger cars were made of aluminum to save weight, and the nose was a new design with reduced aerodynamic drag. Test runs were conducted between 2002 and 2008, in the course of which HSR-350x achieved the South Korean rail speed record of on December 16, 2004.
The KTX-II was officially renamed as KTX-Sancheon () after the Korean language 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 11, 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 2, 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. KTX-Sancheon recalled after series of breakdowns. Koreatimes.co.kr (2011-05-11). Retrieved on 2013-07-12. Following the recall, the KTX-Sancheon trains were put back in service.
In addition to the 24 initial KTX-Sancheon trains, which form the KTX-Sancheon Class 11, new batches have been ordered and delivered since, to provide service on the new Honam, Suseo and Gyeonggang Line lines. For the opening of the Honam HSR line, 22 trainsets, named Class 12, were delivered ahead of the 2015 opening. In addition, 10 trainsets have been delivered to provide service on the Suseo line, scheduled to open in December 2016 (Class 13), and 15 trainsets (Class 14) have been ordered for the Gyeonggang Line, which opened in late 2017 ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The KTX-Eum entered service on Jungang Line on January 4, 2021, operating between electrified section of Cheongnyangni and Andong. It was also introduced on Gyeonggang Line since August 1, 2021, replacing KTX-Sancheon which would be redeployed to other KTX lines. A further order of 14 six-car units was placed in December 2016, both orders are to be delivered in 2020–2021.
In 2016, a contract was concluded between Korail and Hyundai Rotem to build 2 pre-series sets of KTX-Cheongryong. These trainsets entered service on the Gyeongbu high-speed railway and Honam high-speed railway on May 1, 2024.
Another 17 trainsets ordered by Korail are scheduled to be delivered between April 2027 and March 2028.
| Dongdaegu – Busan station | 122.8 | 76.3 | November 1, 2010 | ||
| Daejeon South Interconnection – Okcheon Interconnection Sindong Interconnection – Daegu West Interconnection | 45.3 | 28.1 | August 1, 2015 | 130 | 80 |
| Dongdaegu – Busan station | 115.4 | 71.7 | |||
| Gwangju-Songjeong – Mokpo station | 66.8 | 41.5 | |||
| Masan – Jinju station | 49.3 | 30.6 | December 15, 2012 | ||
| Gyeongju station – Bujeon | 106.6 | 66.2 | December 20, 2024 | 150 | 93.2 |
| Seowonju – Gyeongju station | 253.4 | 157.5 | January 5, 2021 | 250 | 155 |
The AREX connection to Incheon airport was axed due to low through traffic, therefore the through-running arrangement of KTX trains into the airport got terminated.
| Gyeongbu KTX | HSR route | 00x/18x | 39–48 | (Haengsin) – Seoul – Gwangmyeong – Daejeon – Dongdaegu – Ulsan – Busan |
| via Gupo | 10x/16x | 6–8 | (HSR route until Dongdaegu) – Miryang – Gupo – Busan | |
| via Suwon | 12x/17x | 4–6 | Seoul – Yeongdeungpo – Suwon – (HSR route toward Busan) | |
| Gyeongjeon KTX | 20x/28x | 12–16 | (Gyeongbu HSR until Dongdaegu) – Miryang – Changwon – Masan – Jinju | |
| Donghae KTX | 23x/29x | 14–15 | (Gyeongbu HSR until Dongdaegu) – Pohang | |
| Honam KTX | HSR route | 40x/49x | 20–21 | (Haengsin) – Yongsan – Gwangmyeong – Gongju – Iksan – Gwangju-Songjeong – Mokpo |
| via Seodaejeon | 47x/48x | 7 | (Gyeongbu HSR until Osong) – Seodaejeon – Gyeryong – Nonsan – Iksan (– Gimje – Mokpo / 2x daily) | |
| Jeolla KTX | HSR route | 50x/54x | 12–14 | (Honam HSR route until Iksan) – Jeonju – Yeosu-Expo |
| via Seodaejeon | 58x | 3–4 | (Honam route via Seodaejeon until Iksan) – Iksan – Jeonju (– Yeosu-Expo / 2x daily) | |
| Jungang KTX | 70x | 7–8 | Cheongnyangni – Wonju – Jecheon – Yeongju – Andong | |
| Gangneung KTX | Gyeonggang route | 80x/85x | 14–21 | (Seoul) – Cheongnyangni – Manjong – Pyeongchang – Jinbu – Gangneung |
| Yeongdong route | 84x/88x | 4–7 | (Gyeonggang route until Jinbu) – Jeongdongjin – Donghae | |
| Gyeongbu SRT | 3xx | 40 | Suseo – Daejeon – Dongdaegu – Ulsan – Busan | |
| Honam SRT | 6xx | 20 | Suseo – Gongju – Iksan – Gwangju-Songjeong – Mokpo | |
KTX services are grouped according to their route, and within the groups, the stopping pattern changes from train to train. KTX trains not deviating from the Seoul–Busan corridor are operated as the Gyeongbu KTX service. In 2004, the new service cut the route length from , and the fastest trains, serving four stations only, cut the minimum Seoul–Busan travel time from the Saemaul-ho's 4 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes. With the extension of the Gyeongbu HSR, from November 1, 2010, the minimum Seoul–Busan travel time reduced to 2 hours 18 minutes, over a travel distance of . From December 1, 2010, Korail added a pair of non-stop trains 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 , plans foresee a further improvement of the four-stop travel time to 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Because both KTX and conventional trains in South Korea share a rail gauge (unlike in Japan), KTX trains can run on both networks dramatically increasing the number of destinations served.
Some Gyeongbu KTX services use parts of the conventional line paralleling the high-speed line. From June 2007 until October 2010, some trains left the Gyeongbu HSR between Daejeon and Dongdaegu to serve Gimcheon station and Gumi station before the opening of an extra station for the two cities on the high-speed line. 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 Station.
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 station in Seoul and Mokpo cut minimum travel time from 4 hours 42 minutes to 2 hours 58 minutes. By 2017, this time is to be cut further to 1 hours 46 minutes.
On December 15, 2010, the new Gyeongjeon KTX service started with a minimum travel time of 2 hours 54 minutes over the long route between Seoul and Masan. The service is to be extended to Jinju by 2012. A fourth line, the Jeolla KTX service will connect Seoul to Yeosu in 3 hours 7 minutes from September 2011. From 2014, with the completion of the first phase of the Honam HSR, the travel time is reduced further to 2 hours 25 minutes. From 2015, KTX trains are to reach Pohang from Seoul in 1 hour 50 minutes.
After the November 1, 2010, start of service on the Daegu–Busan section of the Gyeongbu HSR, the fare for KTX trains using the new section was set about 8% higher than for the old route via Miryang, while that for the new services via Suwon was set lower.
Discounts for family seats (37.5%) and backward facing seats (5%) are specific to the KTX. In addition to Korail's small general discounts for tickets purchased in a vending machine, via cell phone or the internet, discounts of 5–20% apply to a limited number of seats on KTX trains when purchased in advance. For travellers who transfer to other long-distance trains towards destinations beyond KTX stops, transfer tickets with 30% discount apply. Korail pays a refund for late KTX trains, which reaches 100% for trains with a delay above one hour.
Korea Rail Pass, a period ticket Korail offers to foreigners, also applies to KTX. 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%.
| 1991 | 196,402 | - | 196,402 | |
| 1995 | 190,203 | - | 190,203 | |
| Dec 1998 Nov 1999 | 141,497 | 22,818 | 164,315 | |
| Aug 2003 | 115,828 | 36,085 | 151,913 |
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.
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. In 2009, the average daily ridership was 102,700. As of April 2010, the single-day ridership record stood at 178,584 passengers, achieved on January 26, 2009, the Korean New Year.
By the tenth anniversary KTX had travelled a total 240 million kilometres, carrying 414 million passengers.
By 2007, provincial airports suffered from deficits after a drop in the number of passengers attributed to the KTX. 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 dropped 35.4% compared to the same period a year earlier, those between Gimpo and 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. In the first month of Gyeongjeon KTX service, express bus services between Seoul and Masan or Changwon experienced 30–40% drops in ridership.
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.
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 June 13, 2007, near Cheongdo on the upgraded Daegu–Busan section, a damper acting between two cars of a KTX train got free at one end due to a loose screw and hit the trackbed, throwing up ballast that hit cars and caused bruises to two people on the parallel road, until the train was stopped when passengers noticed smoke.
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. The accident happened because the driver had fallen asleep and disabled the train protection system, 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 bound for Seoul from Busan derailed on a switch in a tunnel before Gwangmyeong Station, when travelling at around . No casualties were reported, only one passenger suffered slight injury, but KTX traffic was blocked for 29 hours while repairs were completed. Preliminary investigation indicated that the accident resulted from a series of human errors. Because workers improperly repaired a point along the tracks. Investigators found that the derailment was caused by a switch malfunction triggered by a loose nut from track, and suspected that a repairman failed to tighten it during maintenance the previous night. The switch's detectors signalled a problem earlier, however, a second maintenance crew failed to find the loose nut and didn't properly communicate the fact to the control center, which then allowed the train on the track. The rail union criticised Korail's use of hired repairmen. there were no problems with the train according to investigation.
On July 15, 2011, 150 passengers were evacuated from a train when smoke started coming out of the train when it arrived at Miryang station at 11:30 AM. On July 17, 2011, at around 11 AM, a train stopped abruptly and stranded some 400 passengers in the Hwanghak Tunnel for over an hour. The train resumed service after emergency repairs to a malfunctioning motor. A Korail spokesperson stated that the reason for the stop was due to "faults in the motor block that supplies power to the wheels". The same day, the air conditioning broke down on another train leaving Busan at 1:45 PM. Over 800 passengers were transferred to another train at Daejeon when the problem could not be fixed.
On December 7, 2018, a KTX train carrying 198 passengers derailed about five minutes after leaving Gangneung for Seoul injuring 15 passengers. The train was traveling at about 103 km/h when almost all of its cars left the rails.
On January 5, 2022, a KTX-Sancheon train bound for Busan from Seoul carrying 303 passengers and crew derailed at 12:58 PM while passing a tunnel in Yeongdong of North Chungcheong Province, about 215 kilometers south of Seoul, injuring 7 passengers. The train was traveling at about 200 km/h when it partially derailed, resulting in a bogie wheel from car number 4 running off the track before being violently ejected from the train, throwing up ballast and causing structural damage to train cars. Subsequent KTX traffic was rerouted via the standard line, resulting in severe delays. Initially, it was believed that the derailment was caused by the train colliding with debris while passing Yeongdong Tunnel. However, evidence gathered from further investigation show that the missing bogie wheel was found inside Otan Tunnel, which is about 4 km before Yeongdong Tunnel, leading the investigating team to believe the train derailed due to faults within the wheel bogie assembly rather than from impact with debris.
The noise level in the trains during tunnel passages was also subject to passenger complaints. This was referred to as a tunnel effect; it referred to both noise and vibration of the train when traveling through two specific tunnels.
A reduction by 3–4 dB was achieved by retrofitting all trains with longer mud flaps at car ends until May 2006 to smooth the airflow at the articulated car joints. 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 rails for high-speed trains like the KTX are welded together via a special techniques that make the rail a solid continuous rail; this method reduces the noise volume, which is produced by the wheels' contact with the rail, but it is not eliminated.
The isolation of KTX-I trains against pressure variations during tunnel passages was insufficient for some passengers, leading to efforts to reinforce pressurization in newer generations of trains. Pressure variations have been known to cause passengers to experience ringing in their ears; the ventilation systems on the passenger cabins are sealed when the train enters a tunnel in order to reduce the pressure changes. Pressure variations were not the only train cabin-associated complaint; KTX passengers were also known to have been negatively affected by inconsistent speeds of the trains.
Some KTX passengers found high-speed travel in backwards facing seats dizzying. Along with dizziness, feelings of nausea, headache, and sleepiness could also be experienced. Motion sickness was also noted as having had a minimal effect on KTX passengers; however, it still made an impact on passenger ride comfort. When the original seats were selected for the KTX trains, the anthropometry of the main consumers, who were largely expected to be Korean, were not considered. The seat design was found to have a significant effect on how passengers on the KTX trains rated the experience of their trip. Among the various factors that were considered to be vectors of discomfort were the angle of joints and specific areas of pressure, which were discovered to be present after an analysis of questionnaires that were completed by recent passengers. The factors of the seats of concern to KTX passengers were the shape, pitch, width, and the amount of legroom between the rows of seats. Swivel seats, which can be turned into the direction of travel, installed only on First Class in KTX-I trains, were made standard on both classes on newer generations of trains.
Studies have shown that term "ride comfort" has been used as an all-encompassing term for the KTX passengers' over all experience on the trains. While the KTX train is based on the French TGV model, it is considered to be more comfortable. The passengers' overall experience with regards to over-all ride comfort has been looked at as a combination of their physical health and emotional state. Fares were not included in the aforementioned questionnaires on ride comfort as there were variations in pricing due to seat arrangement, as well as weekday/weekend rates.
In June 2024, South Korea and Uzbekistan concluded a KRW 270 billion (approximately US$196 million) deal to apply KTX technology in Uzbekistan by supplying high-speed trains and Korail expertise. This is the first time KTX technology was exported. As part of the deal, 6 sets of trains (of 7 cars each) known as UTY EMU-250, which is a variant of KTX-Eum and capable of going up to , are to be supplied for of rail in Uzbekistan. Operations are scheduled to begin in April 2027.
/ref> The tunnel effect was specifically noted as a reason for passenger dissatisfaction.
/ref> Sound waves that are generally dispersed in an open environment are reflected against the tunnel walls, which causes the sound waves to come in contact with the passenger cabin and produces noise.Choi, S., Lee, C., Kim, J., & Cho, J. (2004). Interior Noise of a Korean High-Speed Train in Tunnels. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australian Acoustical Society, 2004. 415-416. ; ISSN 1446-0998.
International export
Railways using KTX technology are not limited to those in South Korea.
See also
External links
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