President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 14 sign a joint statement on deepening and comprehensively expanding the special strategic partnership between the two nations at the presidential palace in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. (Jeon Han)
By Xu Aiying
On the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s just-concluded state visit to Uzbekistan, the Central Asian country will be the first export destination for the Korean-developed high-speed rail Korea Train eXpress (KTX).
Under a public-private joint venture with the government-run Korea Railroad Corp., train manufacturer Hyundai Rotem on June 14 announced a KRW 270 billion contract with Uzbekistan Railways to supply and maintain high-speed electrical multiple unit (HEMU) trains.
The gist of the deal is the supply of 42 trains, or seven per group, as 250-kph HEMU vehicles, 42 months of maintenance and repair, and technology transfer.
These vehicles will be run on a combined route length of 1,216 km in Uzbekistan, including the sections of Tashkent-Bukhara (590 km), the scheduled Bukhara-Khiva (430 km) and Miskin-Nukus (196 km). As the first to put HEMA high-speed rail in Central Asia, the venture will upgrade transportation efficiency and infrastructure from those of trains using electric multiple units.
This inaugural export deal is considered the full-fledged entry of KTX, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, into the global high-speed rail market.
President Yoon said “As the first export case of a high-speed rail vehicle developed with Korean technology, this will contribute to improving Uzbekistan’s rail infrastructure and expanding bilateral cooperation in the overall rail sector, including high-speed train operations.”
xuaiy@korea.kr
