SOUTH KOREA | High Speed Rail

[ruready1000]

Originally Posted by Nozumi 300

Since the KTX-II has some operating issues, does this also affect Turkey's KTX-II production?

It will depend on whether the problem are serious ones or acceptable early-stage operational errors. Anyway 8 months have passed since the first KTX-Sancheon(KTX-II) began commercial service, so it will need more time to stabilize the operation.

[ruready1000]

Airline battles KTX threat on Busan route

Lee Seong-hwa, a 31-year-old who works at a telecommunications firm in Seoul, had two transportation options to choose from ahead of a recent business trip to Busan: a budget airline or the bullet train.

“In the past, I used to take an airplane when going on a domestic business trip because it saved time,” Lee said. “It just was much shorter. But with KTX offering more trains and faster rides to various parts of the country, I now prefer the bullet train.”

KTX could lure more travelers like Lee going forward with the launch yesterday of faster train travel between Seoul and Busan. The travel time between the two cities via KTX has shrunk by 22 minutes to two hours and 18 minutes - with stopovers in Daejeon, Daegu, Gyeongju and Ulsan - after the completion of a new high-speed rail between Daegu and Busan.

With the upgrade in KTX services, however, local budget carriers are deeply concerned about losing passengers.

As a result, they are offering new promotion packages and improved services to keep customers.

Air Busan, the budget carrier of Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second-largest carrier, said recently that it “will compete with KTX directly by offering flights from Seoul to Busan once every 30 minutes and from Busan to Seoul once every 60 minutes.”

“In addition, we are planning to offer discounts to passengers in contrast to KTX, which has raised its prices by 4,000 won ($3.58),” said an official from Air Busan last week during the airline’s second-anniversary celebrations.

Air Busan and Korean Air are the major carriers offering flights to Busan.

To help keep business customers, Air Busan is extending discount rates to company officials who fly domestic routes.

The carrier is also offering a 20 percent discount on flights between Busan and Gimpo.

An average one-way flight from Seoul to Busan on Air Busan costs 74,600 won, including the air tax fee, while a KTX ticket on the route costs 55,500 won on the weekend. With the 20 percent discount, a one-way flight to Busan would cost 52,400 won.

Meanwhile, Air Busan is also trying to increase profits by offering more international flights. The carrier said it is planning service between Busan and Cebu in the Philippines and the Busan-Taipei route by next January.

source

[ruready1000]

First Day of Gyeongbu HSR 2nd Phase Commercial Operation (November. 1)

[ruready1000]

New Rail Section to Cut Travel Time to Incheon Airport

Travel between Seoul Station and Incheon International Airport will get faster and more convenient, with express trains traveling the distance in 43 minutes and regular trains in 53 minutes.

Travelers can also conveniently check in their luggage at Seoul Station before heading to the airport.

The Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry said Wednesday, “The Phase 2 section (20.4-kilometer section linking Seoul Station and the airport) of the Korail Airport Railroad will be opened on Dec. 29 following the Phase 1 section (37.6-kilometer section linking Gimpo and Incheon airports) that opened earlier.”

The entire section of the airport railroad is thus nearing completion 10 years after the project began in April 2001. A traveler can ride a KTX bullet train from Daejeon and arrive at Seoul Station (53-58 minutes), then reach the Incheon airport via the airport rail in 43 minutes.

This means a combined travel time from Daejeon to Incheon airport of one hour, 35 minutes.

A city airport terminal will be installed on the second floor of Seoul Station to handle the issuance of boarding passes and luggage check-in. The boarding process and luggage check-in can be done directly at the station, allowing air passengers to comfortably travel to the airport.

Checked luggage will be loaded onto freight cars of express trains and taken to the airport before being loaded on airplanes, thus creating a de facto airport terminal in the city center. Travelers, however, must undergo departure processing at the airport, including body screening to check for explosives and passport inspection.

The travel time of regular trains stopping at all stations between Seoul Station and the Incheon airport will be 53 minutes for a fare of 5,300 won (4.79 U.S. dollars). That of express trains will be 43 minutes for a fare of 13,300 won (12 dollars).

A ministry official said, “The reason for the price being more than double just for a 10-minute difference in travel time is that normal trains consist primarily of cars designed for standing, while express trains come with designated seats.”

Normal trains run at an interval of six minutes between Seoul Station and Geomam Station in Incheon, while they will run at a 12-minute interval between Geomam and Incheon airport. The express trains will run at a 30-minute interval.

The ministry is consulting with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gyeonggi Province on discounts for transfers in the Seoul metropolitan region to the Seoul-Geomam Station section.

Started in 2001, the Korail Airport Railroad project opened the Phase 1 section in March 2007. The number of travelers using the rail, however, is just an average of 28,000 per day. With the launch of the Phase 2 section, the number is expected to skyrocket to around 100,000 per day.

The ministry also plans to enable travelers to use the airport railway at Yongsan Station.

source

I made a mistake to post several unrelated news on this topic. Sorry. --;

[TheKorean]

Seoul to Busan is 141 miles, around 200km.

Then how the hell does this HSR take 2 hours to get to Busan? I realize there are mountains, and tons of it, but didnt Korail put tunnels in instead of having to travel around it?
\And yes there are stations, between. But how long can they possibly stop for.5, 6 minutes before departure?

[ruready1000]

Originally Posted by TheKorean

Seoul to Busan is 141 miles, around 200km.

Then how the hell does this HSR take 2 hours to get to Busan? I realize there are mountains, and tons of it, but didnt Korail put tunnels in instead of having to travel around it?
\And yes there are stations, between. But how long can they possibly stop for.5, 6 minutes before departure?

I think you have wrong information. The straight-line distance from Seoul station to Busan station is about 328km, and actual travel length of this route is 423.9km.



Before Gyeongbu HSR Phase 2, KTX between Seoul and Busan used Gyeongbu conventional line via Miryang and Gupo(Busan). Gyeongbu HSR Phase 2 made a detour to pass Ulsan, the 7th biggest city in Korea(about 1.13 million), resulting in more travel-length than Phase I, even though the travel time is shorter than Phase I.

There are several factors that block speed up of Gyeongbu HSR even after the completion of Phase 2.

• Seoul <-> Gwangmyeong section : conventional track shared with normal trains and the most bottlenecked section in South Korea.
  
• Daejeon and Daegu downtown section : conventional track shared with normal trains.

In order to solve this problem, the government began several construction.

image hosted on flickr


Suseo HSR (Dedicated Track)

• Route : Suseo <--> Connected to Gyeongbu HSR at Pyeongtaek
• Total Budget : 3조7천2백31억원 ( about 3.2 billion dollars )
• Construction Period : 2011~2014
• Track Length : 61.08 km

Suseo HSR via Gyeongbu HSR is to tackle a bottleneck on the Seoul-Siheung section. The already over-burdened section, which are shared with all kind of trains from various lines, is expected to be worsened when Honam HSR 1st phase opens on 2014. In result government decided to build Suseo HSR, in time for Honam HSR 1st phase openning, to relieve the Seoul-Siheung conjestion. Suseo HSR, mostly built underground, will also cut KTX journey time through a dedicated high-speed underground track.

Construction of dedicated track in Daejeon and Daegu downtown

• Daejeon Section (19.2km)
• Daegu Section (27.1km)
• Construction Period : 2009-2014

[TheKorean]

http://www.geobytes.com/CityDistance...&pt_2=krpupusa

[ruready1000]

Originally Posted by TheKorean

http://www.geobytes.com/CityDistance...&pt_2=krpupusa

The site has wrong information.



And see these sites also :
http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_bet..._Busan_KS.html
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...ces.html?n=235

[stingstingsting]

great updates ruready1000! since you were talking about those bottlenecked sections, do you have any pictures of the stations then?

[aquaticko]

I hear that Korea's bid is pretty high on the list for Brazil's project, but the Korail parts of Korea's system seem to be having quite a few issues lately, partially due to the newness of the KTX Sancheon, but also because of poor management. If it essentially just an internal problem (management), it shouldn't have any effect on the chances of winning this project (or California's), but I can't help but think it doesn't look very good to have trains breaking down or having problems so frequently. Also, how is the construction of the Honam line progressing?

[k.k.jetcar]

Originally Posted by aquaticko

I hear that Korea's bid is pretty high on the list for Brazil's project, but the Korail parts of Korea's system seem to be having quite a few issues lately, partially due to the newness of the KTX Sancheon, but also because of poor management. If it essentially just an internal problem (management), it shouldn't have any effect on the chances of winning this project (or California's), but I can't help but think it doesn't look very good to have trains breaking down or having problems so frequently. Also, how is the construction of the Honam line progressing?

Take a look at this (also note the links below the article):
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/...053000763.html

You must be careful with Brazil though- just when things look like they will proceed smoothly and with expedience, another glitch or delay is forthcoming. Granted, this has become the norm in the U.S. also.

[aquaticko]

Yes, things seem to change rapidly on projects this size, for some reason. I only hope that Korea gets it so that it can better assert itself in this growing market; Japan and France are already highly respected for their systems, as they should be, but I'd like Korea's to continue to develop at a good pace.

[aquaticko]

Engineers say world's fastest train produced. Looks like SK is making decent progress with the technology. Here's to hoping the implementation of this train is equally quick.

[krnboy1009]

Is that the new EMU prototype? Would love to see that thing go. And hopefully Honam HSR is completed by the time it enters service.

[aquaticko]

The article mentions distributed traction, so I think so. Unfortunately, English-language news on Korean rail developments is scarce .

[krnboy1009]

[k.k.jetcar]

The article above fails to mention that the demonstration was done on a stationary test bed (where rollers are placed underneath the bogies), located at the KRRI facility at Uiwang. Apparently a half-full wineglass was placed on a table inside the test car, and even at the simulated 430km/h the wine glass did not move, and the wine itself only moved to and fro in the glass about 5mm. An actual six car trainset is planned to have its debut later this year, with real on-site testing on the Gyeongbu HSR Line early in 2012.

Chosun Ilbo article (Japanese language Korean newspaper):
http://www.chosunonline.com/site/dat...101201510.html

[krnboy1009]

Hopefully this sets go under strict final inspection to ensure all gears are not loose and functioning right.

[Palatinus]

Originally Posted by ruready1000

First Day of Gyeongbu HSR 2nd Phase Commercial Operation (November. 1)

What did the taxi driver say at 1:25?

[ruready1000]

Originally Posted by k.k.jetcar

The article above fails to mention that the demonstration was done on a stationary test bed (where rollers are placed underneath the bogies), located at the KRRI facility at Uiwang. Apparently a half-full wineglass was placed on a table inside the test car, and even at the simulated 430km/h the wine glass did not move, and the wine itself only moved to and fro in the glass about 5mm. An actual six car trainset is planned to have its debut later this year, with real on-site testing on the Gyeongbu HSR Line early in 2012.

Chosun Ilbo article (Japanese language Korean newspaper):
http://www.chosunonline.com/site/dat...101201510.html

You are right. It's just a test on a test bed.

http://news.kbs.co.kr/tvnews/news9/2...1/2370543.html