KR Chairman Kim Sang-kyun hold an online meeting with his Costa Rican counterpart Elizabeth Briceno Jimenez to discuss ways of partaking in a San Jose metropolitan railway project and promoting technology cooperation on June 30. (Photo: KR)

Korea Rail Network Authority said it will launch LTE-railway (LTE-R) project on 12 railway routes, including the Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Line, as part of the Korean New Deal to strengthen the safe operation of trains.

LTE-R (LTE-based Railway wireless communication system) is a homegrown G4 LTE system for optimizing the railway environment, allowing controllers, locomotive engineers, station officials and repair crew to share train speed, videos, location and other smart safety services.

KR plans to channel 275 billion won in digitalizing SOC for public safety, part of the Korean New Deal. The authority plans to advance the completion of the project to 2025, two years earlier than originally planned.

In particular, the LTE-R project will be divided into several construction sections to allow as many as cooperative companies to participate in it. Regional cooperative firms will be given additional points as part of efforts to boost the regional economy.

If and once the LTE-R system is in place, it is expected to not only dramatically improve the safety of the operation of trains but also offer safer and more convenient train services to people by allowing controllers, locomotive engineers, station officials and repair crew to share not only information on the operation of trains but also the location of accident sites and train glitches in real time.

KR Chairman Kim Sang-kyun said, “The LTE-R project is the first to be implemented under the Korean New Deal. Building intelligent railway infrastructure through digitalization with LTE-R system will set up a safe train operation environment and timely loading of project costs will contribute to reinvigorating the national economy.”

A diagram of the LTE-R (LTE-based Railway wireless communication system), a homegrown G4 LTE system for optimizing the railway environment.

KR Chmn. Kim Holds Online Meeting to Seek Winning Costa Rica Railway Order

KR Chairman Kim had an online meeting with his Costa Rican counterpart, Elizabeth Briceno Jimenez, to discuss ways of partaking in a San Jose metropolitan railway project and promoting technology cooperation, KR said on June 30.

The teleconference was arranged as part of efforts to help Korean companies struggling with the exploration of overseas markets due to the spread of COVID-19.

The move came after KR singed an MOU on mutual cooperation with Costa Rican railway authorities last September.

The San Jose metropolitan railway project calls for building a 84.9 km-long railway network crossing the metropolitan area horizontally.

The public-private partnership project will cost 1.8 trillion won, and Costa Rica is expected to invite a tender around the end of this year.

Officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation, Korea Eximbank as well as major participants of Korea Team, including Hyundai Engineering, Hyundai Rotem and KIND, also partook in the teleconference.