Busan is good

Double-decker KTX likely to run Seoul-Busan route

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Double-decker bullet trains may be introduced in 2015 to cope with the country's shortage of railroad tracks.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said on Thursday (Sept. 28) that it is considering adopting a double-decker Korea Train Express (KTX) on the Seoul-Busan route as part of railroad network reform measures.

“There is only one rail track on the 17.6-kilometer section from Seoul Station in central Seoul to Siheung Station in southwestern Seoul, and KTX and other non-bullet trains all use the track,” a ministry official said.

To solve the railway track shortage situation, the government is examining a scheme to construct more tracks as well as adopt double-deckers, he added.

The section, which is the beginning of Republic of Korea​'s two main railroads that go down to Busan and Gwangju, has only one track, and 165 trains use the track each day, almost the full daily capacity of 171. 

It would be desirable to build more tracks there to solve the overload, but it would take at least 10 years to build new ones after securing building sites and examining environmental influences.

“As an alternative, we are thinking about double-decker trains, which will take less time, while building new tracks at the same time,” the official said.

He added there are few technical problems in changing the current KTX trains into double-deckers and in operating double-deckers with the existing facilities on the Seoul-Busan route.

“The shortage of track will be aggravated when the bullet train railway from Seoul to the Jeolla-do is opened in 2015. We are considering adopting double-decker KTX around that time,” he said.

The ministry had a research institute examine the case, and plans to promote the introduction of double-decker trains next year after details about operational and technical matters come out.

In France, double-decker TGV have operated on the Paris-Lyon section since 1997.

 

The source of news : Korea.net  September 29, 2006