(ANN/THE KOREA HERALD) – South Korea has introduced the KTX Cheong-ryong, a new class of high-speed train capable of reaching 320 kilometres per hour.
This marks the country’s first domestically designed and manufactured bullet train with a peak speed exceeding 300 kilometres per hour.
The KTX Cheong-ryong will initially operate four times daily between Seoul and Busan, and twice daily between Seoul and Gwangju, starting in May.
This unveiling coincides with the 20th anniversary of South Korea’s high-speed train system, making it the fifth country globally to implement such a system.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a congratulatory speech in Daejeon that South Korea has embarked on a “train revolution based on 20 years of high-speed train operations.”
Yoon added that the KTX Cheong-ryong trains will run more frequently between Seoul and Busan once more railways are added between Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province and Osong, North Chungcheong Province, by 2028.
According to Yoon’s office, the KTX Cheong-ryong can travel between Seoul and Busan in about 2 hours and 10 minutes, and between Yongsan Station in Seoul and Gwangju in 1 1/2 hours, with fewer stops in between than the KTX-Sancheon.
