Military seeks meeting with S. Koreans on using high-speed rail for business travel

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — The U.S. military wants to meet with the South Korean government this week to discuss what, if any rates, might be charged for U.S. servicemembers to use the country’s new high-speed train for military business, officials said Monday.

The South Korean government pays for U.S. troops’ official travel on the slower Korea National Railroad trains but no arrangements have been discussed for using the new Korea Train Express (KTX), officials said. Base transportation officials want to meet this week with South Korean government railroad officials to discuss who pays for using the new line, said Steve Oertwig, Korea Regional Office spokesman.

The express line, which opens Thursday for regular passenger traffic, shaves significant amounts of time from rail travel from Seoul to Pusan and Taegu, all sites of U.S. military installations. But its ticket prices are 25 percent higher than the Korea National Railroad’s Saemaeul line, a first-class train.

Seoul to East Taegu on the KTX will be 34,900 won (about $30) and Seoul to Pusan will be 45,000 won or about $39.

The KTX will slash travel times, though. The Seoul-Pusan trip, averaging four hours on the older train, can be completed in about 2 hours and 40 minutes; the Seoul-East Taegu trip, averaging three hours on the slower train, will take 1 hour, 39 minutes.

South Korean officials say they hope to slice the time to Pusan to one hour, 56 minutes when, in a second phase, portions of tracks shared with commercial trains are upgraded.

A second line branches off just north of Taejon, stopping in West Taejon, Nonsan, Iksan, Gimje, Jeongeup, Janseong, Gwangju, Songjeong-il, Naju and finally Mokpo in the southwest corner of the country. The trip from Seoul to Mokpo — also on average a four-hour journey on the older train —- takes about 2 hours and 58 minutes.

More than 20,000 U.S. servicemembers travel through South Korea by train each year, according to the Morning Calm newspaper — and more than 8,000 of those are traveling on official business.

Those traveling while on leave, or just doing personal travel through the country and paying their own fares, are free to use the KTX.

South Korea is the fifth country in the world to adopt a high-speed rail system. The government has invested almost $12 billion in the KTX, built mostly by South Koreans using French technology. Officials have said they hope the electric train, traveling at more than 180 mph, will relieve the desperate traffic congestion that impedes South Korea’s ability to move both people and products quickly.

The main highway to Pusan — the eight-lane Gyeongbu Expressway — is smoggy, jammed and grinds to a halt on major Korean holidays. Driving the 260 miles to Pusan can take up to 12 hours, an arduous trip prompting many to book passenger trains months in advance.

The need for passenger trains also means fewer trains to carry cargo, driving up the cost of moving goods throughout the country. The 46 KTX trains — 12 imported from France and 34 made in South Korea — are expected to provide daily transport to 180,000 people initially, more than 500,000 eventually.

Government officials have predicted the decrease in passenger usage of the older line due to the KTX will allow a seven-fold increase in cargo capacity, from 390,000 containers yearly to around 3 million, according to the KTX Web site.

The Korean government has said it expects the faster train will enable people to live further from their work and commute longer distances. Officials also have predicted the express electric train will help reduce both pollution and traffic accidents because of fewer vehicles on the roads.

Choe Song-won contributed to this report.