Korea's fastest high-speed train to go into service in May, says President Yoon
Published: 01 Apr. 2024, 18:40
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- SARAH CHEA
- [email protected]
![President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, attends a ceremony alongside children and officials to mark the 20th anniversary of KTX rail service at the Korea Railroad Corp headquarters in Daejeon on Monday. He highlighted that the next-generation KTX-Cheongnyong express train, the fastest of its kind in the country, which was unveiled on this day, will enter into service next month to help shorten travel times. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/04/01/233b3a2b-831b-46ef-a46c-cd62c388eb26.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, attends a ceremony alongside children and officials to mark the 20th anniversary of KTX rail service at the Korea Railroad Corp headquarters in Daejeon on Monday. He highlighted that the next-generation KTX-Cheongnyong express train, the fastest of its kind in the country, which was unveiled on this day, will enter into service next month to help shorten travel times. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
"Starting in May, we will put the KTX-Cheongnyong into service on the Gyeongbu and Honam lines and expand rapid high-speed trains that shorten travel time by up to 30 minutes," Yoon said Monday during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the KTX trains at the Korea Railroad headquarters in Daejeon. He was referring to train lines connecting Seoul to Busan and Daejeon to Mokpo, respectively.
The KTX-Cheongnyong was named through a public contest to mean "blue dragon" in the Year of the Blue Dragon - at Daejeon Station in the city 139 kilometers (86 miles) south of Seoul.
The KTX-Cheongnyong will be the fastest train in the country, with a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour. The presidential office said the train's advanced speed controls make it optimal for the country's railways, with their many curves and short distances between stops.
Moreover, the new model was manufactured with 100 percent local design and engineering, and 87 percent domestic parts.
Rapid high-speed trains will stop only once or twice to reduce travel time between Seoul and Busan to 2 hours and 10 minutes and between Yongsan and Gwangju to 1 hour and 30 minutes, Yoon said.
It is an era where "competitiveness is decided by speed," Yoon said. "We will expand the high-speed rail network nationwide to make the entire country reachable within two hours."
"Based on high-speed rail, we will open a regional era in which it is good to live anywhere in the country."
BY SARAH CHEA, YONHAP [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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