Leading Central Inland Development... KTX Icheon~Chungju Section Completed After 16 Years

Icheon~Chungju Section Opens on the 30th... Operations Begin on the 31st
Chungju~Mungyeong Section to Open After December 2023

Jungbu Naeryuk Line passing through Howon 2nd Bridge.

The Icheon~Chungju section, the starting segment of the inland axis line connecting the metropolitan area and the central inland region, has been completed and put into operation after 16 years.

The Korea Rail Network Authority announced that the Icheon~Chungju section, which is more than half of the 93.2km single-track railway section from Icheon to Mungyeong, totaling 54km, has been completed and held an opening ceremony on the 30th.

The Icheon~Mungyeong section began with a basic plan in 2005, marking the start of the project, with a total project period of about 18 years. Among these, the Icheon~Chungju section was completed 16 years after the project began. The subsequent Chungju~Mungyeong section is scheduled to open after December 2023.

The Jungbu Inland Line plans to build three new stations (Ganam Station, Gamgok Janghowon Station, Angseong Oncheon Station) reflecting the characteristics of each region, making the railway stations local landmarks.

Through this, by promoting station area development projects centered around the railway stations in each region, the goal is to attract tourists from the metropolitan area and revitalize the local economy in the central inland region, which boasts excellent natural scenery.

Additionally, travel time between the central inland region and the metropolitan area is expected to be drastically reduced. In fact, despite the developed road network, there was no railway connecting Chungju City in the central inland region and Icheon City in the metropolitan area, and public transportation conditions were very poor due to the need for transfers when traveling by bus.

Jangcheon Overpass on the Jungbu Inland Line.

With this opening, the Icheon (Bubal)~Chungju section is connected by rail, reducing the travel time from 1 hour 45 minutes by bus to about 30 minutes, shortening the time by 1 hour 15 minutes compared to the bus, greatly improving transportation convenience for residents.

Advanced railway facilities and vehicles have been applied to enhance service quality. The Jungbu Inland Line Icheon~Chungju section was constructed with 48% of the route consisting of tunnels and bridges, minimizing sharp curves to allow trains to run at high speeds of up to 230 km/hr.

Safety equipment such as tunnel alarm devices, obstacle detection devices, track crossing facilities, and switch heating devices used in high-speed railways have been installed, and advanced cutting-edge railway systems such as the 4th generation wireless communication network (LTE-R) have been applied to enable safer train operations.

Following the Jungang Line, the second distributed power semi-high-speed train in Korea, the ‘KTX-Eum’, has been deployed, making efficient operation possible even on the Jungbu Inland Line, which has many intermediate stations and short distances between stations. The KTX-Eum is eco-friendly with low carbon emissions and power consumption, equipped with convenience facilities such as smartphone wireless chargers, and also has the advantage of wider seat spacing.

View of Gamgok Janghowon Station.

The Authority is currently actively promoting construction of the second phase project, the Jungbu Inland Line Chungju~Mungyeong section. Afterwards, connections are being pursued northward towards Gangnam (Suseo) and southward to Geoje, linking inland areas of Chungbuk and Gyeongbuk provinces. Additionally, connections to the Chungbuk Line high-speed route are being pursued east-west.

Once the inland axis, a north-south longitudinal line, is fully completed, the central inland region will become a key hub of Korea’s railway transportation, and based on the growth of inland areas, each region is expected to develop in a balanced manner, according to the Authority.

Director Kim Han-young said, “With the opening of the Icheon~Chungju section, the central inland region and the metropolitan area are connected by semi-high-speed rail, greatly improving accessibility. Furthermore, by connecting northward to Gangnam (Suseo) and southward to Geoje, the central inland region is expected to become a key hub of Korea’s railway transportation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.