First Hurdle Cleared for Honam Line KTX Service Expansion... 10 Billion Won Secured in Budget

National Funding Secured for Substation Capacity Expansion
Foundation Laid for Coupled KTX-Cheongryong Operations
Gwangju City Expects Relief from Seat Shortages

Kang Gijeong, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the "KTX Honam Line Service Increase Resolution Rally" held on the morning of September 23 at Songjeong Station Plaza in Gwangsan District, urging the increase of KTX services on the Honam Line along with the Gwangju City Council, Gwangsan District, Gwangsan District Council, and citizens. Provided by Gwangju City

With 10 billion won allocated in next year's government budget for the substation upgrade project to increase KTX services on the Honam Line in Gwangju, the city has seen the first progress in its longstanding request for service expansion.

On December 4, Gwangju City announced, "A total of 10 billion won for the 'substation upgrade project to increase KTX-Cheongryong train services on the Honam high-speed rail line' has been finalized in the government budget." This budget allocation is the result of Gwangju City’s continuous proposals to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Railroad Corporation regarding the need to increase KTX-Cheongryong and KTX-1 services, as well as National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee member Jung Junho raising the urgency of expanding substation capacity during the parliamentary budget review process.

In September, Gwangju City held a resolution rally at Gwangju Songjeong Station, together with local politicians and citizens, demanding an increase in KTX services on the Honam Line to address seat shortages. Since then, Mayor Kang Gijeong has met with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoonduk to directly emphasize the necessity of service expansion and has continued related discussions.

The KTX-Cheongryong consumes about 1.4 times more power than the existing KTX-1 when operated in coupled formation. In fact, in August 2023, Korea Railroad Corporation experienced a power supply outage due to an overload at the Noryeong Substation during a KTX-Cheongryong coupled test run, officially highlighting the need to expand substation capacity.

Gwangju City expects that once the partial upgrade of the Noryeong Substation is completed in May 2026, coupled KTX-Cheongryong operations will become possible, allowing for the supply of up to 1,000 seats per trainset. This represents an increase of about 300 seats compared to the existing coupled KTX-Sancheon (758 seats), and is expected to alleviate chronic seat shortages for citizens.

Based on this budget, the National Railway Authority plans to sequentially expand transformer capacity at four substations-Noryeong, Buyong, Nonsan, and Iksan-along the Honam high-speed line by 2028. This measure is intended to enable coupled KTX-Cheongryong operations even before the completion of the Pyeongtaek-Osong quadruple-track project.

Mayor Kang Gijeong stated, "As a result of the combined efforts of local politicians and citizens, we have opened the way for coupled KTX-Cheongryong operations in the short term, and in the long term, we have laid the foundation for increased services on the Honam high-speed line. We will continue to do our utmost to improve transportation convenience for our citizens."

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