• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2005

To relieve congestion in the current system of intercity transportation, the Korea decided in 1990 to construct a high-speed railroad between Seoul and Busan and it is now in operation. This new mode of transportation significantly cut travel time between major cities and a trip from Seoul to the southeastern port of Busan. Since the KTX opening, average daily passenger numbers on both the Gyeongbu and Honam lines have increased about 1.3 fold over 2003 levels. As of December 2004, the KTX trains are carrying about 81,000 people a day. On KTX routes, the daily number of airline passengers dropped. Express long-distance bus traffic also dropped by 20% to 30%, while that on short-distance routes (100km or less) increased by about 20%. These figures clearly indicate that the Korean transportation network is becoming railroad-centric. However, the number of KTX passengers is fewer than anticipated possibly due to the Korean economic downturn and the operation of the KTX will leave many existing Saemaul and Mugunghwa train sets idle, which will be put into operation for areas, not covered by the KTX. When all the existing major lines have been electrified, more high-speed rail services will be phased in using direct connections to maximize operational efficiency. And also, the dual management by KTX and conventional rail will be regarded as the promotion of the benefit of the public.