The six railway construction projects being implemented in several parts of the nation are to be finished by the end of this year, ushering in a “New Railway Revival Era.”
The Donghae-Jungbu Line, a 166.3 km-long railroad route connecting Samcheok and Pohang is to be opened to public on Dec. 31.
The newly opened line has 18 stations. The project cost 3,428.9 billion won. It was launched in 2009.
As the Donghae-Jungbu Line is linked to the existing Gangneung-Samcheok and Pohang-Busan railroad routes, passengers are allowed to travel via railroad from Gangneung to Busan along the East Coast.
The ITX-Maeum train will be initially operated on the Gangneung-Busan route.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said the operation of the KTX-Ieum, running up to 250 km per hour, from 2026 will be considered following a survey of demand and others.
It takes three hours and 50 minutes and two hours and 35 minutes to travel from Gangneung to Busan via the ITX-Maeum and KTX-Ieum, respectively. The travel time from Samcheok and Pohang via the KTX-Ieum is 54 minutes.
Gov. Kim Jin-tae of Gangwon Special Self-governing Province said, “The opening of the Donghae-Jungbu Line is uniting Gangwon-do with a population of 1.5 million people, the Daegu-Gyeongsangbuk-do area with a population of 5 million people, and the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongssangnam-do area with a population of 7.7 million people into one, a super East Coast metropolitan economic sphere with a population of 14 million people.”
The route of the Donghae-Jungbu Line. (Photo: Gyeongsangbuk-do)
The Jungbu-Inland Line, connecting northern Chungcheongbuk-do and Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is to be opened on Dec. 30.
The soon-to-be-opened second-phase section of the Jungbu-Inland Line is a 39.2 km-long route connecting Chungju and Mungyeong stations.
The second-phase project cost 1,338.6 billion won. The first-phase sections of the Jungbu-Mungyeong — Icheon-Chungbuk and Eumseong-Chungju, totaling 54 km in length — have been already opened with the operation of KTX trains since 2021.
With the full-fledged opening of the Jungbu-Inland Line, KTX-Ieum trains, starting at Pangyo Station, will be operated at eight occasions along the one route, connecting Icheon, Eumseong, Chungju, Goesan and Mungyeong.
It takes one and half hours to travel from Pangyo to Mungyeong along the Jungbu-Inland Line.
Residents in the Jungbu inland area can transfer at Pangyo station to take the Shinbundang Line, traveling toward Seoul’s Gangnam area and several parts of the Seoul metropolitan area.
MOLIT plans to dedicate the Suseo-Gwangju, Mungyeong-Gimcheon, Nambu-Inland (Gimcheon-Geojae) line projects on a gradual basis by 2030 to build an inland truck railway network, penetrating central parts of the nation from Seoul to Geojae.
Earlier, the Hongseong-Seohwaseong section of the Seohae Line, the Shinchang-Hongseong section of the Janghang Line and the Anjung-Pyeongtaek section of the Poseung-Pyeongtaek Line have already been opened simultaneously.
The three railroad routes are expected to spur the development of the Asan, Dangjin and Hongseong regions in Chungcheongnam-do and the Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong and Ansan regions in Gyeonggi-do, with the expanding of freight railway networks connecting West Coast ports and inland areas.
The Seohae Line is a double-track route, stretching 90 km from Hongseong, Chungcheonnam-do, and Seohwaseong, Gyeonggi-do. The project costs 4,121.7 billion won.
The travel time is one hour. By the time the Seohwaseong-Wonsi section of the Shinansan Line is opened by March 2026, KTX-Ieum trains will be operated to connect Hongseong Stations and Daegok Station in Goyang.
The Janghang Line is a 154.4 km-long route connecting Cheonan and Iksan.
The Cheonan-Shinchang(Asan) section opened in 2008, and the newly opened section is a 36.4 km-long, double-track line between Shinchang and Hongseong.
The first phase of the Pyeongtaek Line, a 13.4 km-long route linking Sukseong and Pyeongtaek, was opened in 2015.
The second phase section, a 9.4 km-long route connecting Anjung and Sukseong has newly opened.
Dir.-Gen. Yoon Jin-hwan of the Railroad Bureau at MOLIT said, “If the Shinansan Line double-track electrified railway, Janghang Line (Hongseong-Daeya section) and the third phase section (Poseung-Anjung section) of the Poseung-Pyeongtaek Line are opened one by one, they will form a West Coast axis railway network that will transform the West Coast sphere into Korea’s growth center.”
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