Tilting Train Express (TTX) or Hanvit 200 is a South Korean experimental high-speed

tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide abo ...

, which is currently being tested by the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI).

Technical details

The six-car train has distributed power and a design speed of and a planned service speed of . The carbody is made on an aluminum honeycomb structure sandwiched between a carbon/epoxy composite material, reducing carbody mass by 40%. The interior design of two of the powered cars provides for 29 First Class seats in 2+1 configuration, that of the other two powered cars 56 Standard Class seats in 2+2 configuration, that of unpowered end cars 54 Standard Class seats.

History

TTX was presented to the public on January 16, 2007, when the first test run was planned for the next month. The actual first test was conducted on April 2, 2007, on the

Chungbuk Line The Chungbuk Line(충북선, 忠北線) is a railway line serving North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The line connects Jochiwon on the Gyeongbu Line to Bongyang on the Jungang Line, serving the major cities of Cheongju and Chungju ''en ...

. Following a call by Nam-Hee Chae, the president of the Korea Railroad Research Institute, for proposals for a generic name for Korean-made high-speed trains, on April 5, 2007, Chae announced the name Hanvit (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 한빛), which means a streak of intense light in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

. Under the new naming scheme, TTX became Hanvit 200. The first test run with active tilting was conducted in the presence of the media on May 22, 2007, between

Osong Station Osong station is a train station on the Honam and Gyeongbu high-speed railways in Cheongju City, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It is located at the intersection of the Gyeongbu KTX high-speed rail line, the conventional Chungbuk Line a ...

and nearby Ogeunjang Station on the

. At the time, the train was planned to enter service in 2010. Until December 21, 2008, the train ran over in test runs on the Chungbuk Line, short of the planned. The test program of was completed until the end of 2009, with test runs on the Chungbuk, Jungang,

Honam Honam (; literally "south of the lake") is a region coinciding with the former Jeolla Province in what is now South Korea. Today, the term refers to Gwangju, South Jeolla and North Jeolla Provinces. The name "Jeonla-do" is used in the names of th ...

Gyeongbu The name Gyeongbu refers to the Seoul-Busan corridor in South Korea. It is used as the name of the Gyeongbu railway line and Gyeongbu Expressway, both of which connect Seoul—the South Korean capital and largest city—to Busan—t ...

and

Taebaek Line Taebaek Line is a single-track electrified railway mainline connecting Jecheon station to Baeksan station in South Korea. At its two ends, the Taebaek Line connects to the Jungang Line and Yeongdong Line. The line was originally two spur lines, ...

s followed by high-speed testing on the

Gyeongbu High Speed Railway The Gyeongbu high-speed railway, also known as Gyeongbu HSR, is South Korea's first high-speed rail line from Seoul to Busan. KTX high-speed trains operate three sections of the line: on April 1, 2004, the first between a junction near Geumcheo ...

(Gyeongbu HSR), with achieved at 00:33 on November 19, 2009, between Osong and

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...

. In a further test in September 2010 on the not yet opened second stage of the line between

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

and

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, the train achieved .

Series version

By the end of 2009, the series version of the train was expected to enter regular service in 2013, starting on the Jungang Line. The future service is expected to reduce the travel time between Cheongnyangni in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and

Yeongju Yeongju () is a city in the far north region of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea, covering 668.84 km2 with a population of 113,930 people according to the 2008 census. The city borders Bonghwa county to the east, Danyang county of North ...

from the current

Mugunghwa-ho The Mugunghwa-ho is a class of train operated by Korail, main railway operator of South Korea. Mugunghwa trains are Korail's slowest tier of trains stopping at a number of towns and villages, and operating over a number of lines that are not se ...

travel time of 3 hours 25 minutes to 2 hours 55 minutes, further reducing to 1 hour 55 minutes after the upgrade of the Jungang Line. Further services are planned on the Taebaek and

Yeongdong Line The Yeongdong Line is a line of Korail. It connects Yeongju in North Gyeongsang Province with Gangneung in Gangwon Province. From Yeongju, it crosses the Taebaek Mountains and reaches the Sea of Japan (East Sea) at Donghae, thence proceedin ...

References

{{Korail rolling stock High-speed trains of South Korea Tilting trains 25 kV AC multiple units Hyundai Rotem multiple units

Technical details

History

Series version

See also

References