SOUTH KOREA: The initial 28 km section of the Great Train Express commuter rail network has opened in the Seoul conurbation, linking Suseo with Dongtan.
The first train left at 05.00 on March 30 from Dongtan heading for Suseo; Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, was onboard.
Seoul Metro has been selected as operator of GTX-A, while national operator Korail is providing maintenance services.
The infrastructure is managed by private company SG Rail, which is acting as project promoter on behalf of the ultimate asset owner, Korea National Railway.
Line A is being built and fitted out by 40 subcontractors including HJ Shipbuilding & Construction. It will run entirely in tunnel, with the alignment being up to 40 m below ground level at the deepest points.
Scheduled to open in stages, the 82 km line with 11 stations will ultimately link Unjeong in the northwestern suburb of Paju with Dongtan in the southeast of the Seoul conurbation.
‘With the departure of the first GTX train, the era of the 30 min commute to work has begun’, the minister said. ‘With the inauguration of GTX-A’s initial section, a transportation revolution has begun. It previously took more than 70 min to travel from Suseo to Dongtan, which is now reduced to 20 min.’
Elsewhere in the programme, construction of GTX Line C started on January 25 and civil works on Line B are planned to begin later this year.
Hyundai Rotem is supplying 20 eight-car trainsets to operate on Line A. GTX trains will run at up to 180 km/h, offering end-to-end commercial speeds of around 100 km/h.
- On March 22, project promoter GTX-C Co has signed a 542·6bn won contract with Hyundai Rotem for the supply of rolling stock for Line C.
