Opening Ceremony for Bullet Train; Service Begins Tomorrow

Opening Ceremony for Bullet Train; Service Begins Tomorrow. March. 30, 2004 22:27. by Seong-Yub Ra cpu@donga.com.

The opening ceremony for the Kyongbu high-speed railway, which will kick off service on April 1, was held Tuesday morning at the Seoul Station Square. More than 1,800 people and top officials including Acting President Goh Kun and Minister of Construction and Transportation Kang Dong-suk gathered to celebrate the opening of the Korea Train Express (KTX).

“I hope the opening of the Kyongbu high-speed railway will become an opportunity for the country to advance toward an era of per capital GDP (gross domestic product) of $20,000,” Acting Presidnet Goh said during the opening ceremony. “The speed revolution that is occurring in the general lifestyle and overall industry will bring about various benefits to the nation,” he added.

To join the completion ceremony of Daejoen Station, most dignitaries except Goh boarded the KTX and left for Daejoen at 10: 40 a.m.

The high-speed railway construction is the biggest national project which began in 1992 with the building of the section between Cheonan and Busan, and it has cost 13 trillion won over 12 years. Originally, the section between Seoul and Daejoen was scheduled to finish in 2000, and the section between Daejeon and Busan was scheduled to finish in 2002. However, the completion has been delayed due to the frequent changes in construction plans and routes, the increase in construction cost, and the foreign currency crisis in 1998.

On April 1, the KTX will start its first service from Seoul to Busan: the newly constructed route from Seoul to Dongdaegu will be used and for the section between Dongdaegu and Busan, the existing route will still be used. The government said that the complete service covering the nation will be done in 2010. The Kyongbu railway shortens the time of travel from Seoul to Busan from a time of 17 hours in 1905 to a modern day time of two hours and 20 minutes.

The KTX is expected to open on April 1. Its first train from Seoul to Busan will start at 5:30 a.m. and the last train at 10:00 p.m. There will be about 145 one-way runs a day. The interval time of the train for Busan will be 30 minutes, for Dongdaegu 20 minutes, and for Daejeon 15 minutes. The Kyongbu express train stops at nine stations including Yongsan, Gwangmyeong, and Cheonan. The Honam express train stops at 14 stations including Iksan, Gimje, and Jeongeub.

The Honam express train is scheduled to open its service in April 1 as well. But the opening ceremony will be held April 24 coincidentally with the completion ceremony of constructing Homan train to double tracks.