A Dream Transportation Comes True

- KTX debut means ?agic Bullet?to transportation woes

Korea's bullet train, called Korea Train Express (KTX), will launch its maiden revenue service on April 1, heralding tremendous changes not only in the transportation sector but in the way the people live too. The KTX will run at a normal operation speed of 300 km per hour: from Seoul to Busan in two hours and 40 minutes instead of the current four hours and 10 minutes. The Honam Line (Seoul-Mokpo) will become operational on the existing railroad, which has been electrified and overhauled for the simultaneous operation of the KTX.
A dream of the transportation revolution comes true, easing Korea? burdensome logistics costs and promoting balanced national land development. The Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Expressway opened in the 1970s and served as a corner stone for Korea? economic miracle. The launch of the KTX is now compared to construction of four Gyeongbu Expressways, bringing about enormous economic benefits and, eventually, enhancing Korea? competitive edge.
The following are excerpts of a recent interview with Kim Se-ho, administrator of the Korea National Railroad (KNR) on the opening of the KTX , slated for April 1.

Question : The Korea Train Express (KTX) is going to become operational soon. How will you operate the high-speed railway system as chief of the government agency responsible for the KTX?
Answer : The era of high-speed railways will bring about a transportation revolution in April. It will also improve the quality of life. The KTX project is the largest one conducted by the government in Korea's history. How effectively the KTX is operated is as important as the construction itself. The KNR has already worked out basic plans to renovate its image and reposition itself as the swiftest and safest transportation means. The railway operation system will be overhauled with a focus on the operation of KTX, which is highlighted with mass transit and speed, so that more people can benefit from the KTX, built with the people? enormous taxes.
High-speed trains will be utilized to the fullest extent on transportation between major cities. Ordinary train services like Saemaeul and Mugunghwa will be utilized fully to serve as a linkage between high-speed and ordinary stations and provide more convenience to the people not covered by the high-speed railway network. An optimal railway network aimed at ensuring speedy operation and safety through the interface between high-speed and ordinary trains will be built up so that the people can be provided with convenient services.
Q : The high-speed railway era is expected to have an enormous impact on the lives of the people. What changes do you expect?
A : Korea will be the fifth country in the world to have a high-speed railway system following Japan, France, Germany and Spain. The KTX will bring not only to Korea the pride of becoming the world? fifth high-speed railway operator, but also great changes in the way the Korean people live.
The effect of the KTX is equivalent to that of constructing four Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) expressways. The KTX, which can allow travelers to reach Busan in two hours and 40 minutes and Daejeon in 49 minutes, will make the people? lives better. The high-speed railway network will bring about a logistics revolution of surging freight transportation capabilities of the existing Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Line as well as such economic benefits as expanded manpower movement.
The passenger transportation capacity of the Gyeongbu Line will surge from the current 180,000 to 520,000, a 3.4-fold increase. The freight transportation capacity of the existing Gyeongbu Line will jump to a forecast of 7.7 fold increase. The annual economic value stemming from saving time and logistics costs is estimated at 1.85 trillion won.
The KTX project has resulted in a massive technology spill-over effect on the local high-speed industry through transfer of the state-of-the-art technologies related to train stocks, railway lines and electric and electronics components and systems. Thirty-four of the 46 train sets, to be put on the high-speed railway, have been manufactured with the transferred technologies. The 46th and last train set, with a localization rate of 93.8 percent, was churned out on Nov. 28 in one year and seven months after Rotem Co. launched local manufacturing of the train set No. 13 last April. G7 High-speed Train, developed as the Korean standard prototype, successfully test-operated at a speed of 300Km per hour on Sept.17, 2003. The commercialization of the G7 High-speed Train whose speed stands at 350 km per hour will be pushed by 2007 at an additional cost of 51.2 billion won. More high-speed train sets, to be augmented to the KTX, will be manufactured with our technology, and exports of the Korean standard train set are expected to contribute to widening foreign exchange earnings.
The operation of the KTX will leave many existing Saemaul and Mugunghwa train sets idle, which will be put into operation for areas, not covered by the KTX. Air flight passengers and expressway motorists are expected to rush to the KTX, easing road traffic congestion and subsequent inconveniences. The local transportation system will be restructured into a new one aimed at the high-speed railway network, which will be linked to ordinary railways and intercity bus networks.
An era with dreams of transportation revolution will unfold with a tremendous effect surpassing that of completion of the Gyeongbu Expressway in the 1970s. A wind of revolutionary change will blow not only to the public daily lives such as commuting, housing and education but also to all economic fields such as leisure, tourism, regional development and real estate development, thus advancing balanced regional development and narrowing gaps between regions. The KTX will likely serve a pivotal role in the government? vision to transform Korea into a logistics and business hub of Northeast Asia when the Silk Railroad Scheme linking inter-Korean and continental networks is realized.
Q : When dose the KTX make its debut and what about the process?
A : The KTX project broke ground on an experimental line between Cheonan and Daejeon in June 1992. The KNR, the operator of the KTX, has been preparing for opening the Gyeongbu and Honam (Seoul-Mokpo) high-speed lines and things are proceeding well to meet the opening scheduled on April 1.
Trial runs for experimenting with revenue services are now made to check into overall operation systems, including train operation schedules, station equipment, integrated information systems and capabilities of coping with contingencies. Trial runs will be augmented in three stages, with the first phase now getting under way. The second phase, which starts in February, will involve final check-up into linking of systems. Under the third phase, which starts in late March, full-fledged operation interface will be inspected.
Q : The people's foremost concern is about the safety of the KTX. Could you explain the steps designed to ensure safety?
A : The KNR has fostered 3,265 talented personnel who will take charge of the operation of the KTX. In particular, 280 locomotive engineers, who have been selected and underwent training since 2000, are now fielded in trial operations.
Attaching priority on ensuring operation safety, the KNR has established and implemented a comprehensive package of safety measures with a target of achieving an accident-free operation record.
The KTX is based on France? TGV, which has proved to be safe during 22 years of operation. I have a firm belief in the safety of the KTX.
Unlike ordinary trains, high-speed rolling stocks are connected in a joint-shaped structure, so there is almost no possibility of pileup even if it is derailed. The KNR has prepared countermeasures in case an accident occurs, however. The high-speed train is furnished with special safety devices such as equipment for preventing derailing and overturning, honeycomb, designed to absorb repercussions from possible collisions with oncoming material and a device blocking atmospheric pressure coming from the passage of tunnels. High-speed passengers will find out that the KTX is safe because it is furnished with state-of-the-art safety systems.
Q : The public view is that the KTX rates are too expensive. Could you comment on the issue?
A : Korea Railroad Research Institute has studied KTX rates for three years and analyzed the correlation among rates, passenger numbers and earnings. Surveys on would-be passengers and public hearings have been conducted. They led to a conclusion that KTX rates can be determined somewhere between 1.2 times to 1.5 times as much as Saemual fares. The KTX normal rates for the Seoul-Busan Line have been set tentatively at 49,900 won, 1.35 times the Saemaul fare, while the rate for Seoul-Gwangju will be 38,200, 1.28 times as much as its Saemaul fare. The KTX rates account for 62 percent to 72 percent of flight fares. Prestige-class fares are to be determined at 140 percent of ordinary KTX fares. The official KTX rates will be put on public notice following consultations with relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Take a comparison between KTX and flight rates on the Seoul-Busan route. It will take two hours and 40 minutes for the KTX to travel on the line, compared to about 1 hour by air flight, but the planned KTX rates are considered to be reasonable in consideration of access and processing time.
The KNR is to offer a variety of discounted rates to passengers, including a 40 percent discount rate to commuting passengers. KTX passengers will be given a 20 percent discount to ordinary train fares when they transfer to ordinary trains, while groups will receive a 10 percent discount. The rates for KTX passengers who book seats 30 days in advance will take up to 20 percent off the official rates.
Q : A controversy is erupting over installing more stations than originally planned. Some people argue that the KTX could fall into slow-moving high-speed railway system.
A : As many people as possible should benefit from the KTX because the KTX project has been undertaken with enormous costs, but the function of the high-speed railway should not be undermined. The KNR has taken into account these factors when it decided to install additional half-way stations on top of the original planned stops.
The KNR will employ a variety of operations methods, including half-way stops, or passing half-way stops, as do the bullet trains of advanced countries, to stop the worry about possible reduction of the speed of the KTX.
Q : What logistic steps are in place following the opening of the KTX?
A : Korea's logistics burden rate is estimated at 12.8 percent, still higher than 9.6 percent in Japan and 10.1 percent in the United States, and Korea? logistic costs rise twice as much as those of advanced countries. A steady rise in train passengers and freight volumes is expected in the years to come, exacerbating the already heavy burden on logistics costs and undermining Korea? competitive edge. If the train transportation capacity goes up 5 percent, it could have an effect of saving 270 billion won in logistics costs and 630 billion won in traffic congestion costs.
The KTX is expected to raise the daily passenger transportation capacity from 180,000 to 520,000, a more than three-fold surge, resulting in easing the burden on transporting passengers on the existing railways, which will likely take on a bigger freight transportation share.
Operating a freight train set is equivalent to moving fifty 20-ton freight trucks. If an additional 46 freight train sets are put into operation on top of the existing 434 freight train sets, now in operation, it would have an effect of operating 2,300 trucks, easing traffic snarls and enhancing Korea? competitive edge.
Q : When do you expect the KTX to turn a profit?
A : The KNR is facing a vicious cycle of chronic deficit. The KNR? deficit, first reported in 1971, continued to rise until 1998 when it started to decline, widened again after 2001.
The KTX is expected to reap 1.1 trillion won in net income, and it is forecast to turn into the black in 2007. NW