Growing Railway Role in Low-Carbon, Green Growth Initiatives

The government strives to build up a solid foundation for the so-called "Silk Railroad" linking the Korean Peninsula and Eurasia

Following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Park Jong-hum, deputy director-general of the Railroad Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, discussing government railroad policies.

Question: Will you tell our readers about the current status of passengers and cargo handled by the national railroad network and its outlook?
Answer: The number of railroad passengers, now with a daily average of 281,000, has been on a constant rise since 2004 when the high-speed railway KTX made its debut. The daily average number breaks down to 152,000 Mugunghwa passengers, 102,000 KTX passengers and 27,000 Saemauel passengers. The daily average passenger number rose from 262,000 in 2004 to 279,000 in 2005 and to 281,000 in 2007.
If subway passengers are counted, the railway network's share in transporting passengers hovers around 20 percent since 2000. Its percentage dropped to 19.5 percent in 2006 after rising from 19.9 percent in 2004 to 20.2 percent in 2005.
The government is striving to improve the railroad network, including an extension of a double-track railroad as it boosts investments into the railroad network in line with the low-carbon, green growth initiatives.
Railroad passengers are expected to register a constant rise as soon as the Korean-made bullet train KTX-II has rolled out, the whole of the Gyeongbu KTX line is in place and KTX's coverage area is expanded to the Gyeongjeon and Jeolla Lines.

Q: Will you elaborate on the current status of the operation of the high-speed KTX and future plans?
A: KTX passengers now average 102,000 per day, representing a 42 percent surge over the 72,000 average daily passengers shortly after the KTX's maiden voyage. The aggregate passenger number broke the 150 million barrier in three years and four months after the opening of the Gyeongbu KTX line.
The frequency of the operation of the KTX rose from 128 in the early stage of its operation to the current 140 each weekday and 181 daily on the weekend.
The KTX rakes in an average of 2.85 billion won daily, a 35 percent jump from the 2.11 billion won in the early stage of its operation. Its annual revenues surpassed the 1 trillion won barrier in 2007.
The KTX-II, developed with Korea's own technology, in which seats can be rotated in the opposite direction and cabin noises can be reduced, will make its debut on the tracks of the planned Honam and Jeolla lines in 2010.
The government plans to put the whole of the Gyeongbu KTX Line in commercial service in 2010 and inaugurate the Honam KTX Line in 2015 while expanding the KTX's coverage area to the Jeolla and Gyeongjeon lines. It plans to continue to improve users'sconvenience, suitable for the grade of the KTX.

Q: Will you speak about the current status of the Gyeongbu KTX Project Phase II and future plans?
A: The Gyeongbu KTX Project Phase I, stretching 297.4 km from Seoul to Daegu, was opened for commercial service in April 2004, making Korea the fifth country in the world to operate a bullet train, serving as an opportunity for the nation to join the ranks of advanced railway powerhouses.
The Gyeongbu KTX Project Phase II, which will run 124.0 km from Daegu to Busan, is under construction, and the work will be 66.8 percent complete as of year end. The government will pour 468.5 billion won into the project to complete railroad bed work by next March and shift into high gear such work as track, architecture and electrical systems.

Q: Will you tell us about the plan to construct the planned Honam KTX Line?
A: The Honam KTX line, which will run 230.9 km from Osong to Mokpo, will be constructed in stages by 2017 at a cost of 10.46 trillion won. It is designed to make the most of the growth potential of the Honam provinces and serve as a strategic main railway to ensure balanced national development and build up a regional innovation regime. The Osong-Gwangju section of the line will be completed by 2015 and the remaining Gwangju-Mokpo section will be dedicated by 2017. A detailed illustration will be drawn soon after the recent completion of its blueprint and railway bed work will begin next September.

Q: Will you comment on the development of the KTX II, next-generation high-speed trains and the Korean-type tilting train and future plans?
A: The KTX-II is designed with an aerodynamic form to reduce air resistance and has a lighter body made from aluminum alloy. It is also energy efficient. Following a six-month-long test operation, the KTX-II will be put on the Honam Line in the second half of 2009 and then on the Gyeongbu KTX Phase II Line. A ceremony to roll out the first of the KTX-IIs was held at the Hyundai Rotem Changwon plant.
The master plan for the development of the next-generation high-speed train, dubbed HEMU-400X, was established in July 2008. Four sites have been picked to test-operate the train with a speed of 400km/h. We plan to come up with the most optimized version next year.
Within this month, we plan to set the details of the front of the projected bullet train and the design of the interior.
In March 2008, a team was formed to test-operate the maximum speed and other features of the Korean-type tilting train. We've test-operated the car for 70,000km as of November.
We soon plan to determine on which line the tilting train will be put into service and establish a plan to improve its facilities.

Q: Will you tell us about policies to explore the overseas railway vehicle and construction market?
A: The global market for railway vehicles, systems and infrastructure is estimated at approximately 121 trillion won. The market is maintaining a remarkable growth rate with an expansion of investments into the railway sector and the growth of the private investment market amidst energy and environmental crises. This serves as an impetus for Korea to foster the railway sector as a new growth engine to strengthen its presence across the world.
Currently, Korea is participating in three supervision and consulting services, including one on the construction of the projected Harbin-Dalian railway line in China and five overseas railway infrastructure projects, including a downtown railway construction project in Singapore.
The government plans to provide support to Korean companies participating in the exploration of the overseas railway construction market by forming a support team, beefing up government-to-government collaboration, dispatching overseas railway survey teams and developing value-added technology. It is seeking to form a corps to provide support for exporting Korean-type railway vehicles overseas by exploring new projects through feasibility studies and technology consulting.
It is ramping up government-to-government ties to explore new markets by agreeing to inaugurate conferences on collaborating in such potential railway markets as Russia and Azerbaijan next year.
The government plans to dispatch a joint civilian-government survey team to nations that are expected to place orders on railway projects. It will also beef up Korea's capability to land railway project orders by ratcheting up such R&D activities on the development of such value-added core technologies as next-generation bullet trains and tilting trains.

Q: Will you tell us about the planned linkage of the Trans-Korea (TKR) Line and Trans-China (TCR) Line and the outcome of the Korean-Chinese railways conference held in Beijing?
A: This year marks 10 years since Korea and China signed a pact to promote cooperation in the railway sector in 1998. A Korean delegation, headed by the director-general in charge of railway policy at the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, met their Chinese counterparts during the seventh meeting on the TKR-TCR linkage held in Beijing from Nov. 17-21.
The two sides discussed ways of promoting collaboration in the TKR-TCR linkage and facilitating Korean companies' entry into the Chinese market. They touched on ways of developing combination rates with a competitive edge and expanding container block trains while sharing China's information on the results of the test-operation of the Eurasian train made in January. They also discussed the Korea Rail Network Authority's possible participation in China's inspection sector and Korail's entry into the Chinese passenger service sector. The Korean side will accelerate its entry into the Chinese passenger service market by promoting the exchange of experts in the sector.
The government is striving to build up a solid foundation for the so-called "Silk Railroad" linking the Korean Peninsula and Eurasia. nw

Park Jong-hum, deputy director-general of the Railroad Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

Notables, including 2nd Vice Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Lee Jae-kyoon, Korail Acting President Shim Hyuk-yoon and Hyundai Rotem Executive Vice Chairman Lee Yeo-sung cut the tape to roll out the first of the high-speed railroad train KTX-II developed with Korea's own technology at Hyundai Rotem Changwon plant on Nov. 25.