The Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit is a

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...

system between the cities of

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

and

Gimhae Gimhae (, ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, situated near the Nakdong River. It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim (Korean name), Kim clans in Korea, cla ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The line has 21 stations including Daejeo and Sasang where passengers can transfer to Busan Metro Line 3 and Line 2 respectively. The line thus acts as a connecting rail between both Gimhae and Busan International Airport with two western outreaches of the Busan Metro system.

Construction

Construction of the line started in February 2006, and after repeated delays, it was set to open on 29 July 2011; however, opening of the line was once postponed indefinitely due to noise abatement issues. The line finally opened on 9 September 2011 with one week of free service; revenue service began on 17 September 2011. The line has a length of with 21 stations, and a design capacity of 176,000 passengers per day. The line is a joint venture between

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

and

Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem Company, often referred to as Hyundai Rotem (), is a South Korean manufacturer of railway rolling stock, railway signalling, defense products and plant equipment. It is a member of Hyundai Motor Group and has presence in more than ...

, and has a budget of 9,738 billion won. The line is fully automated and uses

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

Signalling

The Busan–Gimhae Light Rail Transit is currently equipped with

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

SelTrac

Communications-based train control Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accura ...

(CBTC)

moving block In railway signalling, a moving block is a signalling block system where the blocks are defined in real time by computers as safe zones around each train. This requires both knowledge of the exact location and speed of all trains at any given t ...

signalling system.

Rolling stock

The line uses a dedicated fleet of 2-car trains built by Rotem, a member of Hyundai Motor Group. They are very similar to the trains subsequently built for the Ui LRT in Seoul, possibly identical even.

Stations

The line includes Gimhae International Airport Station. This is the station for Busan International Airport. The stations at Sasang and Daejoe each connect with another line in the Busan urban rail network. Sasang connects with line 2 (green). Daejoe connects with line 3 (red).

References

External links

Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit Co. Ltd. homepage (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit Gimhae Transport in Busan Airport rail links in South Korea Busan Metro lines Light rail in South Korea 750 V DC railway electrification Railway lines opened in 2011