Honam Express Train Starts at Suseo

Suseo in Gangnam, Seoul will be the metropolitan area`s Honam Express Train stop. When the first block of the express line is completed in 2015, traveling hours between Seoul and Gwangju will be reduced by more than two hours (based on Samaeul trains).

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation released results of its research on the envisioned Honam Express Train Line on July 3. The research was conducted jointly by the Korea Institute of Transportation Systems and the Korea Transportation Society, and a final report will be out in September this year after a public hearing.

According to the draft report, the Honam line will connect Suseo in Seoul to Imsungri in Mokpo through a city in central area, Iksan, Gwangju and Songjeong-ri. Cheonan, Osung and Daejeon are now being considered candidates of a station in the central area.

The construction will go through three stages to ease the burden of initial investment. At the first stage, the government will build a new block covering Suseo, Hwasung in Gyeonggi-do, a central city and Iksan in North Cholla Province.

The Hwasung-central city tracl will use Gyeongbu express line set to open in April next year. The Iksan-Mokpo track will use the existing Honam line. The government is set to launch construction of Suseo-Hwasung track in 2007 after nailing down a final plan.

The station in the central area will be located near the new administrative capital. If Cheonan is named a central station, another station will be built near Gongju City.

During the second stage from 2010 through 2020, the Hwasung-central city track will be put in place. The third stage will complete the Iksan-Mokpo block, but the timetable has yet to be set.

When the express line is open in 2015 after the first stage is completed, traveling hours between Seoul and Mokpo will be cut in half from four and a half hours (based on Sameul trains) down to two hours two minutes to two hours twelve minutes.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com