S. Korea to expand nation’s rail network to connect new locations

Apr 23, 2021, 08:19 am

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Source: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

AsiaToday reporter Hwang Eui-joong

South Korea’s railway network for major cities will be expanded across the nation over the next decade. A new express train line will be open along the western coastal region, which had limited access to rail lines. As a result, train trips between any major region within the country is expected to take less than three hours.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the fourth nationwide railway plan at a hearing hosted by the state-run Korea Transport Institute on Thursday.

The fourth nationwide railway plan is a mid- to long-term official map that contains the basic directions and line expansion plans for the next decade.

The plan focuses on building railroads in major cities to help chronic problems of traffic and a highly concentrated population. Through the plan, it aims to reduce travel times between those smaller cities to under an hour and help boost regional economies.

The government decided to utilize the existing Gyeongbu line and Honam line to link the southeastern cities of Gimcheon and Gumi, as well as Jochiwon and Sintanjin.

As the new non-metropolitan railway project, new train services will launch between Daejeon and Chungbuk, Busan and Ulsan, Gwangju and Naju, and Daegu and Gyeongbuk.

For the railway that connects Daejeon and Chungbuk, a new section linking Banseok and Jochiwon will be newly established.

A new express railroad will be built in the western coastal region, including Chungnam and Hongseong. The ministry aims to repair worn out railways across the country, including Jeolla Line, Donghae Line and Honam Line, in order to speed up traveling so that people can travel to any part of the country within three hours.

The 4th railway plan includes a project to ease traffic congestion, especially in the Seoul metropolitan area. In order to respond to the rapidly increasing transportation demand in the western region due to the development of new towns, the government decided to build a new Great Train eXpress, or GTX, line connecting the eastern Gyeonggi provincial cities of Gimpo and Bucheon.

Once the 4th railway plan is completed, the railway will be extended from the current 4,274 kilometers to 5,137 km by 2030. It would raise the railway transportation capacity to about 17 percent in 2030 from 11.5 percent in 2019.

The government plans to invest 11.4 trillion won (US$102.7 billion) for the 4th nationwide railway plan.

#rail network #transport ministry #fourth nationwide railway plan