KTX train stops abruptly

A high-speed KTX-Sancheon train from Seoul abruptly stopped on Saturday in the southern part of the country for nearly an hour due to an apparent malfunction in its brake system, officials said.

The train came to an unscheduled halt at 3:13 p.m. near Gimcheon, some 234 kilometers (145 miles) south of Seoul, on its way to Masan on the south coast, the Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail) said. It resumed operations 52 minutes later after the problem was fixed. There were no injuries, a Korail official said.

“The train automatically stops when the brake system malfunctions. We are looking into the exact cause of the problem,” a Korail official said.

It was the latest in a series of incidents involving KTX trains. Earlier this week, Korail found cracks in one of its 19 locally-made high-speed trains and asked its maker, Hyundai Rotem Co., to recall it.

Korea Train Express (KTX)-II, or “KTX-Sancheon” is the first locally made high-speed train and can run up to 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph). Korail has been operating the 19 KTX-II trains since March 2010 but they have broken down a total of 41 times so far, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

On Feb. 26, a KTX-Sancheon train encountered an engine problem after departing from Daegu and arrived in Seoul 39 minutes behind schedule and on Feb. 11, another KTX-Sancheon train derailed near Gwangmyeong Station, south of Seoul, due to a combination of human mistakes, including the loss of a nut in a device that controls track movement.

Yonhap

한글 관련 기사 [한국경제TV]

KTX산천 또 고장…칠곡서 52분간 정차

14일 오후 3시13분께 서울발 마산행 KTX산천 제387열차가 경북 칠곡 에서 52분동안 멈춰서는 사고가 발생했다.

한국철도공사(코레일) 측은 이 열차가 경부선 김천구미역 부근을 지나던 중 제동장치 이상으로 자동으로 멈춰선 뒤 긴급복구반 조치로 사고 발생 52분만인 4시5분께 운행을 재개했다고 밝혔다.

이 사고로 인명피해는 발생하지 않았으나 후속 열차들이 잇따라 멈춰서는 등 하루종일 경부선 KTX 상·하행선의 열차운행에 차질이 빚어졌다.

코레일 측은 사고 발생 후 상행선을 이용해 후속열차들을 통과시켰고 이 때문에 오후 6시 현재까지 하행선은 물론 상행선 KTX열차의 운행도 1시간 이상 지연되고 있다.

이로 인해 KTX 정차역마다 승객들의 항의가 빗발쳤고 환불소동이 빚어지기도 했다.