Hyundai Rotem GTX-A, Finally Unveiled... Seoul-Sudogwon Distance Reduced to '30 Minutes'

A delivery ceremony for the GTX-A, which will run on the GTX A line of the Metropolitan Area Express Railway, was held at Hyundai Rotem's Changwon Plant in Gyeongnam. [Image source=Gyeongsangnam-do]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] A delivery ceremony was held at Hyundai Rotem's Changwon Plant in Gyeongnam for the GTX-A train that will run on the Seoul Metropolitan Area Great Express Train (GTX) Line A.

The ceremony was attended by about 90 officials, including Won Heeryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province; Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City; Democratic Party lawmakers Yoon Hoo-deok, Lee Yong-woo, and Hong Jeong-min; Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang; Lee Yong-bae, CEO of Hyundai Rotem; and representatives of major partner companies.

Park Wan-su, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is encouraging company officials at Hyundai Rotem's GTX-A vehicle delivery ceremony.

Governor Park encouraged Hyundai Rotem officials, saying, "Gyeongnam accounts for 43% of railway industry workers and is leading South Korea's railway industry," and added, "We will do our best to enhance the competitiveness of local companies, so we hope the central government will provide a lot of support."

He then requested Minister Won to operate the Suseo-origin high-speed train on the Gyeongjeon Line to address local civil complaints.

According to the province, GTX is a project promoted to alleviate traffic congestion in the metropolitan area by constructing tracks 40 meters underground, connecting the outskirts of the metropolitan area and major points in downtown Seoul in a straight line.

It is a metropolitan express railway that connects Seoul and the metropolitan area faster than existing urban rail by deploying vehicles at speeds faster than conventional subways.

With a maximum operating speed of 180 km/h, faster than subway trains that run at 80-100 km/h, it can connect Seoul and the metropolitan area within 30 minutes.

Hyundai Rotem, after winning an order for 160 electric train cars worth 464.4 billion won in March and June 2020, unveiled the first 8-car train set on this day, and plans to sequentially deliver the remaining vehicles after this delivery.

The GTX-A trains will be commercially introduced for the first time in Korea on the GTX-A line, which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aims to open in 2024 after trial operations.

They are expected to run on the 82.1 km section connecting Unjeong Station in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, and Dongtan Station in Hwaseong City.

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