SOUTH KOREA: National operator Korail has put into service the first of a build of 107 inter-regional trainsets being supplied by domestic manufacturer Dawonsys.
The first nine four-car EMUs were put into revenue service on September 1, following a ceremony at Taebaek on August 25 attended by Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport Won Hee-ryong. The minister also participated in a test run from Taebaek to Donghae.
During the event, it was announced that the ‘semi high-speed’ trains, previously known as EMU-150 like the Series 21000 trainsets supplied by Hyundai Rotem and Woojin Industrial Systems since 2013, would be officially branded as ITX-Maum.
The new trains are being supplied as both four- and six-car sets with distributed traction equipment: each set has two driving trailers and up to three powered intermediate cars. Korail ordered an initial 150 vehicles from Dawonsys in December 2018, and placed a subsequent order for a further 208 vehicles in November 2019.
Able to operate at up to 150 km/h, the trains are intended to operate long-distance stopping services across the network, with all entering service by 2028. Each four-car unit has seats for 264 passengers, and the units can operate in multiple.
The initial nine sets are being deployed to work seven round trips each a day: two each way on the main lines from Seoul to Busan, Mokpo and Yeosu-Expo, and one pair of services between Seoul and Donghae.
