High-speed rail service in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

began with the construction of a high-speed line from

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 of ...

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, ...

in 1992, and was inspired by Japan's

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

. The first commercial high-speed rail service was launched on April 1, 2004. Currently, South Korea hosts two high-speed rail operators:

Korea Train eXpress Korea Train eXpress (), often known as KTX (), is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004. From Seoul Station the ...

(KTX) and Super Rapid Train (SRT).

Types of railways

The Railway Service Act is the primary Korean law that codifies and defines the three types of railway lines. It states that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should designate track lines and announce them before their commercial operation. There are three types of railway lines. * High-speed railway lines (고속철도노선) can run at speeds of 300 km/h or more on the majority of tracks. ** Gyeongbu HSR Line ** Honam HSR Line ** Suseo-Pyeongtaek HSR Line * Semi-high-speed railway lines (준고속철도노선) can run at speeds between 200 km/h to 300 km/h on the majority of tracks. Although the name of category indicates lower maximum speed, these lines can be still recognized as high-speed rail by

international standards international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International Org ...

. ** Gyeonggang Line (Wonju–Gangneung) ** Jungang Line (Cheongnyangni–Dodam) * Conventional Lines (일반철도노선) can run at a maximum speed of less than 200 km/h on the majority of tracks.

Types of trains

The Railway Service Act and its enforcement bodies categorize

high-speed trains High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

into three types as mentioned below. * High-speed railway trains (고속철도차량) that have a maximum speed of 300 km/h or more. **

KTX-I The KTX-I, also known as the TGV-K or Korail Class 100000, is a South Korean high speed train class based on the French TGV Réseau. The 20-car formation of the trainsets without restaurant car is optimized for high capacity. The 46 trainsets wer ...

KTX-Sancheon The KTX-Sancheon (formerly called the KTX-II) is a South Korean high-speed train built by Hyundai Rotem in the second half of the 2000s and operated by Korail since March 2009. With a top speed of , the KTX-Sancheon is the second commercial high- ...

* Semi-high-speed railway trains (준고속철도차량) that have a maximum speed between 200 km/h to 300 km/h. **

KTX-Eum The KTX-Eum (, formerly known as EMU-260) or Korail Class 150000 is a South Korean high-speed electric multiple unit train manufactured by Hyundai Rotem and operated by Korail. The word 'eum' in Korean means 'uniting through connection'. Thi ...

* Conventional Trains (일반철도차량) that have a maximum speed of less than 200 km/h.

Lines in service

Lines generally start in Seoul and end in either the southwest or southeast area of the country. Seoul has three main KTX stations (

Seoul Station Seoul Station is a major railway station in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The station is served by the Korail Intercity Lines and the commuter trains of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Services KTX Seoul Station is the terminus of most ...

, Yongsan Station, and Cheongnyangni Station). Seoul Station is mainly for the

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 Gyeongjeon lines; Yongsan Station is mainly for the Honam and

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as w ...

lines; and Cheongnyangni Station for the Gangneung line. Additionally, Suseo station in southeast Seoul serves the SRT. Only a few KTX trains use conventional lines to serve select stations such as Suwon, Gupo, and

Nonsan Nonsan () is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It is located at . The origin of Nonsan's geographical names is said to have come from the small garden " Nolmoe, " which rises in the middle of farming fields, where rice paddies ...

. These trains are slower but more cost-efficient. * Gyeongbu KTX: Seoul -

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 an ...

- Daegu (Dongdaegu) - Busan/Pohang. * Honam KTX: Seoul (Yongsan) -

Gongju Gongju ([]; Gongju-si) is a city in South Chungcheong province, South Korea. History Gongju was formerly named Ungjin and was the capital of Baekje from AD 475 to 538. In this period, Baekje was under threat from Goguryeo. Goguryeo had overrun ...

Iksan Iksan ( ko, 익산; ) is a city and major railway junction in North Jeolla Province, (commonly transliterated as Jeollabuk-do or Chollabuk-do) South Korea. The city center and railway junction was formerly called "Iri" (), but merged with Iksan ...

Mokpo Mokpo (; ''Mokpo-si'') is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, located at the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, close to Yudal mountain. Mokpo has frequent high-speed train services to Seoul, and is the terminus for a number of f ...

/ Gwangju * Gyeongjeon KTX: Seoul - Daejeon - Daegu (Dongdaegu) - Miryang - Changwon - Jinju * Jeolla KTX: Seoul (Yongsan) - Gongju - Iksan - Jeonju - Suncheon - Yeosu * Gangneung KTX: Seoul (mainly to Cheongnyangni station, however, some trains continue to Seoul station) - Wonju (Manjong) - Pyeongchang - Gangneung/Donghae. * SRT: Seoul (Suseo) - Dongtan - Jije - (continues along the same alignment as the Gyeongbu/Honam KTX line after Cheonan) Some KTX trains proceed north from Seoul to Haengshin.

Services

By operators

KTX

KTX was the first high-speed rail service in South Korea, and is operated by Korail. The KTX-Sancheon line uses newly-built trains, which have improved seats and power plugs for each seat. KTX-I trains have fewer power plugs between the windows. There is no extra fare to ride on the KTX-Sancheon line. Most KTX trains leave from Seoul Station or Yongsan Station and terminate in the cities of Busan, Gwangju, Mokpo, Yeosu, Gangneung and Jinju. Most major cities are served in between. The KTX train is regarded as an easier, more comfortable, and cheaper way to get around South Korea than by air, particularly when factoring in the complications of security and getting to/from the airport. Ticket prices are slightly below the equivalent fare of the major airlines. The weekday Standard Class price from Seoul to Busan is around

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cent ...

57,000. There are three types of KTX seat classes: First, Superior, and Standard. First-class has wider seats, free snacks, and bottled water. There are only First and Standard seats in KTX-I and KTX-Sancheon and there are only Superior and Standard seats in KTX-Eum. The KTX service only runs domestically, although many hope that one day it could run through

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and onto the rest of Asia. Plans by South Korea and China to connect their networks through North Korea are unlikely to ever be fulfilled because of the North Korea's political rivalry with South Korea.

SRT

The SRT starts at Suseo station, located in southeastern Seoul, and is operated by SR. The line serves the same route as Gyeongbu and Honam KTX after Cheonanasan. It uses a separate booking system and app despite using the same trains. Offline tickets can be purchased from the Korail counters, similar to the regular KTX. It is slightly cheaper and more convenient to go to the district of Gangnam in Seoul. Most of the services by Korail such as the Korail pass will not be applied and there are fewer scheduled trains as well.

By region

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 ...

: High-speed rail service that connects

and

by KTX or SRT. * Honam high-speed railway: High-speed rail service that connects

and Gwangju (

) by KTX or SRT. Note that this terminology was used as the project name for constructing the Honam High-speed railway line that connects Osong and Gwangju.

Future rail lines

References

{{High-speed rail High-speed rail in Asia