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(Yonhap Editorial) Renaissance of railroad transportation
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The government revealed an ambitious plan to expand the nation's bullet train network to connect all major cities across the country by 2020. The government's plan calls for 95 percent of major cities to be connected with the high-speed Korea Train Express (KTX) network, enabling transportation between any two destinations in the country within two hours or so.
Improving railroad transportation has been behind road transportation on the government's priority list. For instance, the total length of the country's railroads increased by a mere 287 kilometers in the past 20 years, while roads expanded by more than 3,800km during that time.
The nation's reliance on railroad transportation which remained at the 7 percent level is far behind that in advanced countries, and the government's plan to drastically expand railroad transportation, dubbed "green transportation," is desirable.
The government hopes to lift the portion of freight transportation by railroad to 25 percent by 2025 form 7.5 percent in 2007 and raise the number of daily passengers using railroads from 310,000 to 770,000 during the same period.
The government's plan will shift the focus of its transportation policy from roads to more eco-friendly railroads, especially high-speed railroads. However, there are a number of points that should be taken into consideration in pursuing the projects.
Because railroad transportation is more disadvantageous than road transportation in terms of "door-to-door" transportation, the linking transportation network should be well prepared. Railroad stations should be connected to intra- and inter-city bus lines with convenient transit systems.
It is also important to raise the speed of KTX trains. The maximum speed of high-speed trains in advanced countries, like France and Germany, exceeds 400km per hour. The government said it plans to develop a next-generation bullet train that can travel at a speed of 430km per hour by 2012 and the technology development of building advanced bullet trains should be linked to making inroads into the global market.
Development of railroad technology and education of competent railroad personnel are also things that should be done urgently. There are a couple of colleges in charge of training professional railroad personnel, and the training should be expanded to other colleges.
More important is how to secure the necessary budget. The government says it will increase the annual budget for railroad construction from the present 4 trillion won (US$3.39 billion) to 6 trillion won. The budget, however, seems to be far short for the total construction cost of 100 trillion won.
The government's plan to expand the high-speed train network is proper. The government is advised to consider positive ways to develop the overall railway industry, including rolling stock manufacturing, to make inroads into overseas markets estimated to grow to 230 trillion won in 2020.
kts@yna.co.kr
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