The Korail Class 341000 trains, formerly identified as Korail Class 2000 trains, are commuter
electric multiple units
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...
in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
used on
Seoul Subway Line 4
Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 4 (dubbed ''The Blue Line'') of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a long line crossing from the southwest to the northeast across the Seoul National Capital Area. The central section in Seoul City is operated by Se ...
. Class 341000 trains were manufactured and delivered between 1993 and 1999 to expand service on the
Gwacheon Line
Gwacheon Line is a metropolitan rail line operated by Korail in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. All trains is operated as a through service into Seoul Metro's Line 4 and Ansan Line on the other end.
From January 15, 1993 to March 31, 1994, th ...
and the
Ansan Line
The Ansan Line is a railway line connecting Gunpo to Siheung in South Korea. Services on this line run through train services into Seoul Subway Line 4 via the Gwacheon Line. Services from the Suin Line share tracks with this line between Hanya ...
sections of Line 4.
Technical details
Formation
The Class 341000 cars are arranged in 10-car trains. Details of the car types of each train are listed below:
3410XX (ex-20XX) - Tc (trailer driving car with SIV, air compressor, and battery)
3411XX (ex-22XX) - M (motor car with inverter and controller)
3412XX (ex-23XX) - M' (motor car with pantograph, transformer, inverter, and controller)
3413XX (ex-28XX) - T (trailer car)
3414XX (ex-24XX) - M'
3415XX (ex-25XX) - T' (trailer car with SIV, air compressor, and battery)
3416XX (ex-29XX) - T
3417XX (ex-26XX) - M
3418XX (ex-27XX) - M'
3419XX (ex-21XX) - Tc
Electrical parts
Trains 341-01~341-05, 341-08, 341-18~341-23, 341-25, and 341-26 use
IGBT
An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch, which, as it was developed, came to combine high efficiency and fast switching. It consists of four alternating lay ...
controls with passive cooling through a
heat pipe
A heat pipe is a heat-transfer device that employs phase transition to transfer heat between two solid interfaces.
At the hot interface of a heat pipe, a volatile liquid in contact with a thermally conductive solid surface turns into a vapor ...
, while all other trains use
Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
GTO-based
VVVF
A variable-frequency drive (VFD) is a type of motor drive used in electro-mechanical drive systems to control AC motor speed and torque by varying motor input frequency and, depending on Topology (electrical circuits), topology, to control asso ...
controls with active cooling. Power output on the Class 341000 trains is greater than that on the Class 1000 trains. As a result, the trains only utilize five powered cars, as opposed to six powered cars in older Korail metro trains. The trains are also equipped with
regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...
, which reduces energy consumption and simplifies train inspection.
Interior design
The Class 341000 trains used an ivory-colored interior with a long sheet prior to their overhauls. All trains now use a white interior. LED display monitors are installed on the top of each car. The end cars have a space for
wheelchairs
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebra ...
.
Cabin
The Class 341000 trains equipped with TGIS use color displays, and service machines can be automatically controlled in TGIS after a refurbishment of these trains in 2005.
Dead section notifiers are also installed.
Depot
The Class 341000 trains are stored at the Siheung depot, which is located after
Oido Station
Oido Station is a subway station in Siheung, South Korea. It is the current southwestern terminus of Seoul Subway Line 4 located almost 30 kilometers southwest of Seoul, connecting Oido to other parts of Korea. A commuter rail trip between this s ...
on Line 4.
Generations
1st Generation
![Korail Line 4 train at Geumjeong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Korail_Line_4_train_at_Geumjeong.JPG)
The first generation of Class 341000 trains were built from 1993 to 1996. The trains used a livery consisting of red and orange stripes when delivered, but after refurbishment, the trains started using the new livery. Because of the flat front ends, the trains are nicknamed "flat face" (납작이).
The trains are numbered 341-01~341-25; the trains were renumbered from trains 2-30~2-46, 2-49, 2-51~2-54, 2-70~2-72.
Trains 341-01~341-22 were manufactured from 1993 to 1994 by Daewoo Heavy Industries, Hanjin Heavy Industries, and Hyundai Precision to address the opening of the Gwacheon Line and the Ansan Line (from Seonbawi Station to Ansan Station) and were originally six cars long. Additional cars were built in 1995 by Daewoo Heavy Industries to expand these trains to ten cars. Meanwhile, trains 341-23~341-25 were manufactured in 1996 by Daewoo Heavy Industries to expand the rolling stock on Line 4; they were built with 10 cars each.
All first generation trains are expected to be replaced by third generation Class 341000 trains, though several have been prematurely retired. Train 341-02 was retired in 2018 after it was cannibalized of cars for other metro trains, and many trains currently utilize cars from other Class 341000 trains or from older Class 311000 trains. Train 341-23 was retired on June 11, 2020 after suffering irreparable damage in an accident with another train at
Sanggye station
Sanggye Station is a station on Line 4 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway network in Nowon-gu, Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the '' ...
.
2nd Generation
![Korail Line 4 train arriving at Gwacheon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Korail_Line_4_train_arriving_at_Gwacheon.jpg)
The second generation of Class 341000 trains were built in 1999 by KOROS (Korea Rolling Stock Company) to address the extension of the Ansan Line section of Line 4 from Ansan Station to Oido Station. The cab ends of the driving cars changed completely into a circular front view, which led to the trains being nicknamed "round face" (동글이). The trains used a livery consisting of red and orange stripes when delivered (similar to that of the first generation trains), but after refurbishment, the trains started using the new livery.
The trains are numbered 341-26~341-30; the trains were renumbered from trains 2-77~2-81.
3rd Generation
The third generation of Class 341000 trains has built by Hyundai Rotem since 2018, to replace the aging first generation sets, which in recent years have been suffering from reliability issues. The trains sport some minor changes, such as the change in the propulsion system and a significant change in the design of the end cabs; because of the snout-like appearance, railfans nicknamed the trains "주둥이" (roughly translated as "snout face").
At this time, seven sets, numbered 341-31~341-37, have been delivered and entered service; however, all trains except sets 341-35 and 341-37 are temporarily assigned to Line 1 to serve as temporary replacements for aging third generation
Class 1000 trains until Line 4 is extended northward or until Line 1 receives newer trains.
A further 18 sets, tentatively numbered 341-38~341-55, are being manufactured and will be delivered between fall 2021 and spring 2023; these sets will serve as replacements for aging first generation Class 341000 trains. These sets will be delivered with a modified form of the current livery.
Refurbishment
The Class 341000 trains were overhauled from 2003 to 2005 (though minor refurbishments were started in 2002). Major and minor refurbishments are listed below.
Overhaul
The Daegu subway fire compelled Korail to introduce flame-resistant interiors for passenger safety. As a result, all trains were overhauled with fire-retardant interiors from 2003 to 2005.
New livery
![Korail 34129](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Korail_34129.JPG)
All trains used an old KNR livery consisting of red and orange stripes. These trains were repainted into the current blue and bluegreen livery from 2003 to 2005. The new livery has a metaphor of Taegeuk, but was criticized as being too primitive-looking. Livery is applied only on front and on the doors.
Electric parts
* 2002: Trains 341-01~341-25 were retrofitted with Comonet broadcasting systems. They have since been removed.
* 2004: All trains' braking systems are refurbished to generate less noise.
* 2004-2005: SIV traction systems were replaced with IGBT traction systems built by Woojin Industrial Systems.
* 2005: Various new components in all trains (public address systems, newer cooling systems, and LED destination signs) are added.
From 2003, some trains had their GTO inverters replaced with IGBT inverters. As of 2018, trains 341-01~341-05, 341-08, 341-18~341-23, 341-25, and 341-26 have received new inverters.
From July 2008 all trains were retrofitted with automatic
gangway
Broadly speaking, a gangway is a passageway through which to enter or leave. Gangway may refer specifically refer to:
Passageways
* Gangway (nautical), a passage between the quarterdeck and the forecastle of a ship, and by extension, a passage th ...
doors (similar retrofits were also done in
Class 311000,
Class 321000, and
Class 351000 trains). This retrofit included the installation of automatic doors to replace the older doors that were manually pulled open; gangway doors can now be automatically opened by the push of a button. This retrofit process was completed by February 2012.
Some trains are now being retrofitted with LED headlights, following the successful testing of LED headlights on the Korail Class 311000 cars.
Renumbering
In 2011, the Class 341000 trains were renumbered from the 2000-series to the 341000-series as a part of a new numbering scheme by Korail (the leading "3" indicating a metro car). Renumbering was finished by mid-2011.
See also
*
Korail
The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed ...
*
Seoul Subway Line 4
Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 4 (dubbed ''The Blue Line'') of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a long line crossing from the southwest to the northeast across the Seoul National Capital Area. The central section in Seoul City is operated by Se ...
*
Korail Class 311000
The Korail Class 311000 trains, some train of which were formerly identified as Korail Class 5000 trains, are commuter electric multiple units in South Korea used on Seoul Subway Line 1. Class 311000 trains were manufactured and delivered between ...
*
Korail Class 351000
The Korail Class 351000 trains, formerly identified as Korail Class 2000 trains, are commuter electric multiple units in South Korea used on Suin-Bundang Line. Class 351000 trains were manufactured and delivered between 1993.
Technical detai ...
References
{{Korail rolling stock
Electric multiple units of South Korea
25 kV AC multiple units
Hyundai Rotem multiple units