NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Korea Train Express

Korea Train Express (KTX) is South Korea's high speed train system. The train's technology is largely based on the French TGV system, and features top speeds of 300 km/h or more. On December 16, 2004, the Korean-made HSR-350X had an experimental run at 352.4 kilometers per hour. Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 467 KB)Photo of KTX train, DongDaegu Station, September 2004; original photographer Thorfinn Stainforth File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 467 KB)Photo of KTX train, DongDaegu Station, September 2004; original photographer Thorfinn Stainforth File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hangul also refers to a word processing application widely used in Korea. ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: êµì–´ì˜ ë¡œë§ˆìž í‘œê¸°ë²•; åœ‹èªžì˜ ë¡œë§ˆå— è¡¨è¨˜æ³•) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... Japanese Shinkansen trains began the development of modern high-speed railways (shown here: West Japan Railway Company 500 Series Shinkansen at Kyoto). ... This article is about the French high-speed railway system. ...

History

After 12 years of construction, the first sections of the system connecting Seoul to Busan via Daejeon and Daegu, also known as the Gyeongbu Line, and Seoul to Gwangju and Mokpo, or the Honam Line, opened on March 31, 2004. Using high-speed track for only a part of the distance (Seoul-Daegu), the new line cuts travel time between Seoul and Busan from 260 minutes to 160 minutes; a further improvement to 116 minutes is expected in 2008, when the train shifts to run fully on high-speed tracks. Seoul (SÅul|ì„œìš¸) ) is the capital and largest city of South Korea (Republic of Korea). ... Busan tower by night Haeundae beach at dawn, February 2005 Busan Metropolitan City, also commonly referred to as Pusan, is the largest harbor city in Korea. ... Daejeon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city in the centre of South Korea, and the capital of South Chungcheong Province. ... Taegu now known as Daegu is the 4th largest city in South Korea (after Seoul, Busan and Incheon). ... The Gyeongbu Line (Gyeongbuseon) is the most important railway line in South Korea and one of the oldest, connecting Seoul to Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, and Busan. ... This article is about Gwangju Metropolitan City in South Korea. ... Mokpo (Mokpo-si) is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, on the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula. ... The Honam Line is a major railway line serving the Honam region (North and South Jeolla Provinces) in South Korea. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

46 trains will be built in all: twelve in France by Alstom, the remaining in South Korea by local manufacturers. The tracks were built with the technical help of SNCF technicians. Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ... An SNCF multiple unit. ...

Future

Construction of the second phase linking Daegu and Gyeongju to Busan started in June 2002 and is expected to be complete by 2010. High-speed track for the section from Osong to Gwangju and Mokpo is also planned, with a tentative target date of 2017. [1] A spur line from Seoul to Gangneung, on the northeast coast, is under consideration, and is linked to the Korean bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Image File history File links Ktx-network. ... Image File history File links Ktx-network. ... Taegu now known as Daegu is the 4th largest city in South Korea (after Seoul, Busan and Incheon). ... Gyeongju is a city (see Subdivisions of South Korea) and prominent tourist destination in eastern South Korea. ... Busan tower by night Haeundae beach at dawn, February 2005 Busan Metropolitan City, also commonly referred to as Pusan, is the largest harbor city in Korea. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... 2010 (MMX) will be a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about Gwangju Metropolitan City in South Korea. ... Mokpo (Mokpo-si) is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, on the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula. ... 2017 (MMXVII) will be a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gangneung is a city in Gangwon Province, on the east coast of South Korea. ... The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, will be celebrated in 2014, and are an international winter sports athletic event that has yet to be organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). ...

Ridership

When introduced in April 2004, KTX ridership was an average of 70,900 passengers per day, 70% below initial expectations. While earning an operational profit of about 2.1 billion won per day, this amount was insufficient to service the loans, as the construction cost grew from an initial estimate of 5 trillion to an actual 18 trillion Korean won (approx. 5 billion to 18 billion US dollars). On January 14, 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hai Chan stated that KTX was a political failure. Lee Hai-chan (born July 10, 1952) is the current Prime Minister of South Korea. ...

Ridership has, however, slowly been increasing. On January 9, 2006, Korail reported that average daily ridership in December 2005 had reached 104,600 passengers per day, an increase of almost 50%, with daily operating profit up to 2.8 billion won and financial breakeven expected by early 2007. [2] January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... Transportation in South Korea is provided by extensive networks of railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services, and air routes that criss-cross the country. ...

External links

Categories: High-speed trains | Rail transport in South Korea | Transport operators of South Korea Japanese Shinkansen trains began the development of modern high-speed railways (shown here: West Japan Railway Company 500 Series Shinkansen at Kyoto). ... Image File history File links Tgv-icon. ... At Union Station (Washington, D.C.) Acela Express (often called simply Acela, leading to early confusion with the Acela Regional and Acela Commuter) is the name used by Amtrak for the high-speed tilting train service operating between Washington, D.C. and Boston via New York City and Philadelphia along... AVE trainsets at Seville. ... Eurostar is a train service that connects London (Waterloo station) with Paris (Gare du Nord), Lille and Brussels (Gare du Midi). ... ICE train The InterCity Express or ICE is a type of high-speed train operated mostly by DB Fernverkehr in Germany and neighboring countries, for example to ZÃ¼rich, Switzerland or Vienna, Austria. ... JR-Maglev, MLX01, at Yamanashi JR-Maglev, MLX01 (X means Experimental), is a magnetic levitation train system developed by the Japan Railway Technical Reasearch Institute (association of Japan Railway Group), composed of a maximum 5 cars to run on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line. ... This Virgin Trains High Speed Train is shown here running along the Dawlish sea-front. ... Transrapid at the Emsland test facility Transrapid maglev in Shanghai Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a radically new form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles via electro-magnetic energy. ... Pendolino ( small pendulum in Italian) is a tilting train used in Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. ... 300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005 The Shinkansen (Japanese: æ–°å¹¹ç·š) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by Japan Railways. ... This article is about the French high-speed railway system. ... Thalys PBKA Thalys is a high-speed train network built around the high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. ... Transrapid at the Emsland test facility Transrapid is a German monorail system using magnetic levitation. ... Treno Alta VelocitÃ SpA is special purpose entity owned by RFI for planning and construction of high-speed rail lines (TAV) along Italys most important and saturated transport routes. ... X 2000 is the brand name of Swedens tilting 200 km/h high-speed train class X2, which is operated by SJ. It was launched in 1990 as a first-class only train with a meal included in the ticket price, and free use of the trains fax...

Contents

Future

Ridership

See also

External links