Railway in South Korea
The railway in South Korea is operated as a state railway, but the construction and maintenance of the railway infrastructure in South Korea and the running of the railway are both in the hands of their own administrations.
history
The first rail link in Korea was the 33 km long section between Noryangjin and Jemulpo of the Gyeongin line , which today connects Seoul with Incheon . It opened on September 18, 1899. For the period before 1945 see the
Until the early 1970s, the railroad was the most important means of long-distance transport in South Korea. Since then, the railway has continuously lost importance compared to road traffic.
In 1989 it was decided to counteract the problems caused by the immense economic growth of Korea since the 1970s in the main traffic axis of the country, from Seoul to the south-east, by building a high-speed line operated using conventional wheel / rail technology should. From 1990 there were specific plans for this. Due to the rapid development of the country, the planning had to be revised five times before it was implemented.
To counteract the loss of importance of conventional rail traffic, a framework law for the development of railways was passed in 2003. Building on this, a law on rail traffic was enacted in 2004. On the basis of this law, the construction of railway lines and their operation were entrusted to two different administrations. The law also created the basis for a plan for the development of the railway, which was published for the first time in 2006 and has since been updated every five years for the next ten years, most recently in 2016.
In addition, massive investments were made in the railways, the construction of new high-speed lines was pushed ahead and previously single-track lines were expanded to double- track. This increased passenger traffic and passenger satisfaction, while the number of accidents fell. There has been a scheduled high-speed rail service in Korea since 2004. After its introduction, the number of travelers rose steadily and had almost doubled to 430,000 travelers per day by the end of 2018.
The measures that the railroad took in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic were extensive .
organization
The highest railway authority is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (국토 | 교통 | 부 / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport). Subordinate to this are the Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA) as the railway infrastructure authority and the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) as the railway traffic authority. The KRNA has also been involved in railway construction abroad. Since December 9, 2016, there has also been a further provider of high-speed traffic, SR, which only operates on one route.
Scientific monitoring of rail traffic in South Korea is mainly provided by the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) and the Korea Railroad Resaerch Institute (KRRI). KOTI was founded in 1986 and is mainly active in the field of transport planning, while the focus of KRRI is on the technical development of vehicles and infrastructure. It was established in 1996.
Infrastructure
General Information
The railway network in South Korea was built in standard gauge (1435 mm). At the beginning of 2019 it had a length of 4113 km. 656 km of which were suitable for high-speed traffic. There are two types of high-speed routes. They are either designed for a maximum speed of 350 km / h (although they are planned to be driven only 300 km / h). Or the routes are built for a maximum speed of 200 km / h.
The network is divided into 96 routes . Of this, 2,574 km are double-track. The network has 349 passenger train stations and 302 freight stations .
High-speed lines
| route | Length (km) |
Installation | Vmax (km / h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alignment | Operational | |||||
| In operation | ||||||
| AREX ("Airport Railway") |
Susaek Junction - Incheon Airport Bf | 45.3 | July 30, 2014 | 200 | 160 | |
| Gyeongui main line |
Seoul Hbf - Haengsin station ( - Haengsin station ) | 14.9 | April 1, 2004 | 90 | 90 | |
| SFS Gyeongbu (new line) |
1st section | Siheung Abzw. - Sindong Abzw. | 223.6 | April 1, 2004 | 350 | 305 |
| 2nd section | Daegu Ostbf - Busan Hbf | 122.8 | November 1, 2010 | |||
| Urban section | Downtown Daejeon: Daejeon South Junction - Okcheon Junction . Downtown Daegu: Sindong Junction - Daegu West Junction |
45.3 | August 1, 2015 | 300 | 300 | |
| Gyeongbu main line |
Northern section | Seoul Central Station - Daejeon Central Station | 166.3 | April 1, 2004 | 160 | 160 |
| Southern section | Daegu Ostbf - Busan Hbf | 115.4 | ||||
| SFS Honam (new line) |
1st section | Bf Osong - Gwangju Songjeong Bf | 182.3 | 2nd April 2015 | 350 | 305 |
| Honam main line |
Northern section | Daejeon Rbf - Daejeon Westbf - Iksan Hbf | 87.9 | April 1, 2004 | 160 | 160 |
| Southern section | Gwangju Songjeong Bf - Mokpo Hbf | 66.8 | 180 | 180 | ||
| Gyeongjeon main line |
Eastern section | Mijeon Junction - Masan Hbf | 42.0 | December 15, 2010 | 160 | 160 |
| Western section | Masan Central Station - Jinju Central Station | 49.3 | December 15, 2012 | |||
| Jeolla main line |
Extension line : Iksan Hbf - Yeosu Expo Bf | 180.4 | October 5, 2011 | 230 | 230 | |
| Donghae main line |
Extension line : Geoncheon Abzw. - Pohang Hbf | 38.4 | April 1, 2015 | 200 | 200 | |
| SFS Suseo-Pyeongtaek |
New line : Bf Suseo ( Seoul Südostbf ) - Pyeongtaek Abzw. | 61.1 | December 9, 2016 | 300 | 300 | |
| Under construction | ||||||
| Gyeonggang main line |
New line : Wonju Westbf - Gangjeung Hbf | 120.3 | 2017 (planned) | 250 | 250 | |
| Jungang main line |
Extension line : Bf Cheongnyangni ( Seoul Ostbf ) - Wonju Westbf | 86.4 | 2017 (planned) | 160-230 | ? | |
| Closed | ||||||
| Gyeongbu main line |
Middle section | Daejeon Central Station - Dongdaegu Central Station | 160.0 | June 1, 2007 ~ November 1, 2010 | 160 | 160 |
| Honam main line |
Middle section | Iksan Hbf - Gwangju Songjeong Bf | 97.8 | April 1, 2004 ~ April 1, 2015 | 180 | 180 |
| Gwangju line (branch line) |
Songjeong Junction - Gwangju Central Station | 13.7 | April 1, 2004 ~ April 1, 2015 | 100 | 100 | |
| Planned | ||||||
| SFS Honam | 2nd section | Hp Gomakwon (junction) - Mokpo Hbf | ? | 2019 (planned) | ? | ? |
vehicles
traffic
passenger traffic
There are four types of train in passenger transport :
- Local traffic is served by Tonggeun ( 통근 열차 , 通勤 列車 ; shuttle train ).
- The next higher category is Mugunghwa ( 무궁화 호 , 無窮 花 號 ; Sharonrose ).
- The Saemaeul trains ( 새마을호 , 새마을 號 ; New Community ), which offer more comfort , stop less frequently .
- Korea Train Express (KTX) which operates in high-speed traffic.
International transport
Since South Korea occupies the outer end of the Korean peninsula, its only land border is with North Korea . Due to the political situation, rail traffic between the two countries is extremely limited: there is no passenger traffic. If the political situation permits, freight traffic takes place between South Korea and the Kaesŏng Special Economic Zone . In addition, at the end of 2018, the Russian FESCO Transportation Group and the South Korean Hyundai Glovis , which belongs to the Hyundai Motor Group , examined whether privileged rail traffic through North Korea is possible between South Korea and Russia . A South Korean train with 28 South Korean experts stayed in North Korea for 18 days to check the railway infrastructure to see whether it was technically possible.
future
The current ten-year plan for the development of the railway provides for 36 projects in which routes are to be electrified , a second track is to be added or new ones are to be built. An amount of around 53 billion euros (70.4 trillion won ) is earmarked for this over a period of 10 years . At the end of the planning period, in 2025, 71% of the lines should be double-tracked, 82% electrified and the line network expanded to 5364 km. The aim is also that by 2025, the proportion of long-distance travelers who use the train should be 20%.
See also
literature
- KORAIL: KORAIL embarks on a New Journey to Its Long-Cherished Desire, Trans Eurasian Railway, for the Bright Future of Korea . In: OSJD Bulletin 2/2019, pp. 9-15.
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea: Developement of Railway Transport in the Republic of Korea . In: OSJD Bulletin 2/2019, pp. 1–8.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ As of April 2018 (KORAIL: KORAIL embarks , p. 9).
Individual evidence
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 1.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , pp. 1f.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 5.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 6.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 5.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 2.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 4.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , pp. 2f.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 3.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 7.
- ↑ KORAIL: Measures taken to prevent viral infections on the railways of the Republic of Korea . In: OSJD Bulletin 2/2020, p. 43.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 2.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 3.
- ^ Julie Kim Jackson: New SR railway company to launch super rapid trains . In: The Korea Herald, December 5, 2016; accessed on June 2, 2019; Ministry: Developement , p. 3.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 3.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 1.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 6.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 4.
- ↑ KORAIL: KORAIL embarks , p. 9.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 6.
- ^ NN: New freight route between the Republic of Korea and Russia . In: OSJD Bulletin 5–6 / 2018, p. 47.
- ^ Ministry: Developement , p. 4.