The 113th Railroad Day was observed in a ceremony on Sept. 18 at the Korea Railroad Twin Tower in Sojae-dong, Daejeon, attended by some 700 people from related industries and companies hosted by the Korea Railroad Corp.

Among the dignitaries present at the ceremony included Vice Minister Joo Seong-ho of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM), and heads of the Korea Railroad Association, Korea Transportation College, and Korea Railroad Technology Research Institute, among others.

Vice Minister Joo, in his congratulatory speech, said the railroad industry is faced with an age of fresh growth with the low-carbon, green growth paradigm dominating the national economic growth and the railroad becoming a leading means of transportation  to spearhead a cleaner environment. The government will continue to invest in the construction of the railroad, paying for up 50 percent of all transportation SOC, so that any point in the country can be reached within an hour and a half from anywhere else in the country on the next generation KTX high-speed train that can reach speeds of up to 430 km per hour. The government will also spur the development of high-tech rail technologies with high value-added like environmentally friendly low-speed trams and their commercialization.

The government will also introduce competition in the rail transport industry so that the public can travel on railroads more economically and safer, making the railroad loved by all.

The vice minister also awarded medals and citations to 13 people in recognition of their dedication to the development of the rail industry and 155 locomotive drivers and others who work for the rail industry for their distinguished service.

The Industrial Merit Iron Tower medals were presented to Dr. Lee Jae-hoon of the Korea Transportation Research Institute and Director Lee Kei-hwan of the Korean Rail Authority Management Safety Office. Government prizes were presented to 11 others, and 25 locomotive drivers with no accidents and 130 working for the railroad won the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs citation.

The winners of government prizes included locomotive driver Choi Shin-hak who received the Industrial Prize for preventing a large accident such as a rail crash or a derailment. The Prime Minister’s awards were presented to Deputy Manager Park Min-kyu of the Korea Railroad Corp. for his contribution to the safe opening of the ITX-Chuncheon and Bundang Lines, the first semi-high-speed rail lines introduced in Korea, and Director Min Woo-young of POSCO for his contribution to the importation of an unmanned light electric rail line system and for boosting the image of Korea’s rail technologies overseas.

Following the ceremony, an academic symposium on unmanned railroad system management, safety, railroad logistics, and national competitiveness took place with a number of railroad experts presenting their papers including Professor Jeon Young-seok of Korea Transportation College and Dr. Lee Jae-hoon, the manager of the Korea Transportation Research Institute Rail Policy Technology Headquarters. 

Also included were Kwon Koo-po of CJ GJS Technology Research Center and Lee Kwang-hee, section head for railroad safety at the MLTM.