KTX Honam Line Opens in Early April

KTX Honam Line Opens in Early April

“Time is a factor in travel, one of the most crucial.” 

─ Paul Theroux 

The KTX high-speed railway Honam Line will open on Apr. 2. Accordingly, KORAIL started advance sales of its tickets on Mar. 13, offering a 20 percent discount. The new line will make possible a half-day round trip between Seoul and Gwangju. 

The new high-speed railway line will shorten travel time between Seoul and South Jeolla provincial areas by about an hour. It will take an hour and 50 minutes on average (an hour and 33 minutes to two hours and seven minutes). It used to take two hours and 30 minutes to two hours and 55 minutes. 

The fares are ￦46,800 to travel from Yongsan in Seoul to Songjeong in Gwangju, and ￦52,800 from Yongsan to Mokpo. This is ￦8,200 and ￦8,100 higher than the fares for ordinary trains, respectively. 

But, there is only one daily direct, and therefore the fastest service, between Gwangju Songjeong and Yongsan, running via Iksan, North Jeolla Province and Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi province. The other services will take more travel time, as they will stop at Jeongeup, Iksan, Gongju, Osong, Cheonan-Asan, and Gwangmyeong.

Service intervals are 20 minutes during morning and evening rush hours, but 43 to 45 minutes during other times. KORAIL decided how often to operate the trains and where to stop after taking the estimated number of passengers into consideration, a spokesman said. 

“Intervals could be readjusted later. There will be a big change in the operation of the KTX next year, when Suseo Station opens in Seoul,” a KORAIL official said. 

But, controversy has flared up over the KTX Honam Line’s fares, which are higher than those of the KTX Gyeongbu (Seoul-Busan) Line. The fare for the 211 kilometer-long distance between Yongsan and Iksan is ￦152 for every kilometer higher than ￦138 per kilometer on the 424 kilometer-long KTX Gyeongbu Line. The fare for travel between Yongsan and Jeonju is ￦146 per kilometer. 

“It was inevitable for us to set higher fares for the KTX Honam Line than for the KTX Geyongbu Line because we built new high-speed railways on the KTX Honam Line,” the KORAIL official added. Kim Kwang-soo, the speaker of the North Jeolla Provincial Council, pledged to take issue with the discriminatory fare system. 

Under these circumstances, the opening of the KTX Honam Line will draw 630,000 to 1.1 million more travelers to the North Jeolla Province by 2020, a think tank predicted. Meanwhile, advance sales of tickets for the KTX Pohang Line also began on Mar. 13, as it also will open on Apr. 2, according to KORAIL.