The Suseo–Pyeongtaek high-speed railway ( formerly known as Sudogwon HSR Line), also known as Suseo–Pyeongtaek HSR, is a

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

line from Suseo station in southeast Seoul to a junction with the existing

Gyeongbu high-speed railway The Gyeongbu high-speed railway, also known as Gyeongbu HSR, is South Korea's first high-speed rail line from Seoul to Busan. KTX high-speed trains operate three sections of the line: on 1 April 2004, the first between a junction near Geumch ...

in South Korea. The line was built to ensure southeast Seoul (or Gangnam area) and southern

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous administrative divisions of South Korea, province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a list of provinc ...

have high-speed rail connections.

History

Origins of the project

While South Korea's first high-speed line, the Gyeongbu high-speed railway (Gyeongbu HSR) was in construction between Seoul and

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 ...

, the government considered a second line from Seoul to Mokpo, the Honam high-speed railway (Honam HSR). The first feasibility study in 2003 came to the conclusion that the construction of a full line is not justified by demand, and proposed a two-stage construction. The first stage, to be realised by 2015, would involve two branches from the Gyeongbu HSR, one of which would lead to a second Seoul terminus at Suseo in the southeast part of the city. However, in plans made official in August 2006, the Suseo branch was no longer included. The Suseo branch was re-launched as a separate project, the Metropolitan Area high-speed railway (initially the Suseo high-speed railway), on June 1, 2008, to improve traffic connections to two new housing development areas situated along the line in Dongtan.

Planning stage

Preliminary plans foresaw a long line from Suseo to the junction with the Gyeongbu HSR near

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 1940. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to a South Korean naval b ...

, and three new KTX stations at Suseo, Dongtan and Pyeongtaek, with the last one situated after the junction on the Gyeongbu HSR. The line was to run in a tunnel at a depth of between Suseo and Dongtan, and construction with a budget of 4.18 trillion

South Korean won The South Korean won (symbol: ₩; code: KRW; ) is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions, and it appears only in foreign exchange ...

was foreseen to be complete in 2015. The travel time from Suseo to Dongtan was foreseen to be 12 minutes. The target date for finishing the line was later moved ahead to 2014. The basic design was completed on April 28, 2010. The planned length of the line changed to , and planned stations reduced to two, at Suseo and Dongtan. The government set out a timeplan, according to which detailed design was to commence immediately, and construction was to take place from the second half of 2011 until the end of 2014. The first detailed design contracts were awarded in September 2010. Once the line is completed, the expected travel time will be 1 hour 59 minutes from Suseo to Busan via the Gyeongbu HSR, and 1 hour 49 minutes from Suseo to Mokpo via the Honam HSR.

Longer term plans

On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under two hours by 2020. As part of the plan, tracks for up to are to connect Suseo and

Yongsan Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Yongsan is located near Downtown Seoul, ...

in central Seoul. In November 2020, MOLIT announced extension of Suseo–Pyeongtaek high-speed railway to

Uijeongbu Uijeongbu (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is the tenth-most populous city in the province and a suburb of Seoul within the greater Seoul Metropolitan Area. History Uijeongbu was estab ...

. However, no completion date for the extension was announced.

Stations

Rolling stock

KTX-Sancheon The KTX-Sancheon (, formerly called the KTX-II) is a South Korean high-speed train built by Hyundai Rotem and operated by Korail and SR Corporation. With the maximum operational speed of , the KTX-Sancheon is the second commercial high-speed trai ...

Class 120000 *

Class 130000 File:SRT-211-20190522-134702.jpg, KTX-Sancheon Class 120000 File:SRT train 130000 Series.jpg, KTX-Sancheon Class 130000

Operation

The Suseo–Pyeongtaek high-speed railway is currently utilized by

Super Rapid Train The Super Rapid Train (), often known as SRT, is a high-speed rail service in South Korea operated by SR Corporation. The service starts at Suseo station in southeast Seoul and terminates at either Busan station or Mokpo station. Around 86% ...

(SRT) high-speed rail service.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suseo-Pyeongtaek high-speed railway High-speed railway lines in South Korea