The KTX Gyeonggang high-speed train line that takes just 1 hour and 54 minutes to connect Seoul and Gangneung, one of the host cities in Gangwon-do Province for next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is unveiled for non-Korean journalists and broadcasters at the Seoul Station on Nov. 21.
By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Jeon Han
Seoul l Nov. 21, 2017
A new high-speed railway line will connect Seoul and Gangneung in Gangwon-do Province in under 2 hours, making it easy to get between the capital and the three host cities for next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Pyeongchang, Jeongseon and Gangneung.
The new Gyeonggang Line (경강선) will run KTX high-speed trains that can carry passengers at peak speeds of 250 kph from Seoul Station through to Gangneung Station in just 1 hour and 54 minutes.
On Nov. 21, the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) unveiled the new train cars that are slated to start service in mid-November. It hosted an event for non-Korean journalists and broadcasters from a total of 33 news outlets, including the U.S.’s NBC, the Russian TASS news agency, China’s CCTV and Japan’s NHK.
The high-speed KTX trains on the Gyeonggang Line are eight-cars long with a total of 410 seats. The trains shuttle between Seoul Station and Gangneung Station at a peak speed of 250 kph, reaching their destination in just 1 hour and 54 minutes.
The Gyeongsang Line KTX trains are eight-cars long and have 410 seats. It stops at 10 stations: Seoul, Cheongnyangni and Sangbong in the greater Seoul area, Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi-do, and then Manjong, Hoengseong, Dunnae, Pyeongchang, Jinbu and Gangneung in Gangwon-do.
One-way trips are available 18 times per day on weekdays and 26 times on weekends. Trains depart Seoul Station 10 times per day and Cheongnyangni Station eight times per day on weekdays, and 10 times and 16 times on weekends.
Seoul-to-Gangneung trains leave at one minute past the hour, and the Cheongnyangni-to-Gangneung trains depart at 22 minutes past the hour. KTX trains bound for Seoul from Gangneung Station depart at 30 minutes past the hour throughout the day.
During February next year, which will see an influx of Olympians and their coaches, as well as visitors from around the world, KORAIL will operate a one-way KTX high-speed train with no transfers or stops from International Incheon Airport straight to Pyeongchang, Jinbu and Gangneung in just 2 hours and 13 minutes. That service will run 16 times per day.
Throughout that month, there will also be non-stop KTX service available eight times per day running from the airport straight to Jinbu Station, less than 20 minutes away by bus to the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza, the venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Train fares range from KRW 27,600 (Seoul to Gangneung) and KRW 26,000 (Cheongnyangni to Gangneung) to KRW 40,700 (Incheon to Gangneung).
“If you travel from Seoul to Gangneung by car or bus, it usually takes more than 3 hours, but the Gyeonggang Line KTX trains will cut your travel time down to less than 2 hours,” said Ahn Byung-ho, senior executive director at KORAIL. “Not only during the Winter Olympic Games, but also afterward, this KTX service will make your trip to Gangwon-do Province way faster and way easier, for sure,” he said.
A KTX high-speed train runs along the new Gyeonggang Line on Nov. 21 as it departs Gangneung Station and head to Seoul.
The newly-built Gangneung Station in Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do Province, serves the new KTX high-speed trains that zip along the Gyeonggang Line, shuttling between Incheon, Seoul and Gangneung in around 2 hours.
jiae5853@korea.kr
