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Transport in South Korea

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Transportation inSouth Koreais provided by extensive networks of railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services and air routes that traverse the country. South Korea is the third country in the world to operate amaglevtrain, which is anautomatically run people moveratIncheon International Airport.[1]

History

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Development of modern infrastructure began with the first Five-Year Development Plan (1962–66), which included the construction of 275 kilometers ofrailwaysand several smallhighwayprojects.[2]Construction of theGyeongbu Expressway,which connects the two major cities ofSeoulandBusan,was completed on 7 July 1970.

The 1970s saw increased commitment to infrastructure investments. The third Five-Year Development Plan (1972–76) added the development ofairports,seaports.TheSubwaysystem was built in Seoul, the highway network was expanded by 487 km and major port projects were started inPohang,Ulsan,Masan,Incheonand Busan.[2]

The railroad network experienced improvements in the 1980s withelectrificationand additional track projects. Operation speed was also increased on the main lines. Though the railroad was still more useful for transportation of freight, passenger traffic was also growing. There was 51,000 kilometers of roadways by 1988. Expressway network was expanded to connect more major cities and reached a combined length of 1,539 kilometers before the end of the decade.

Rail

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Main article:Rail transport in South Korea
KTX train

The largest railway operator isKorail.Railway network is managed byKorea Rail Network Authority.

Korea Train Expressbegan service in April 2004 as Korea's first high-speed service. Intercity services are provided byITX-SaemaeulandMugunghwa-ho.ITX-Saemaeul generally stops less than Mugunghwa-ho. They stop in all stations and seat reservation is not available. On routes where KTX operates, air travel significantly declined with fewer passengers choosing to fly and airlines offering fewer flights.

Nuriro Train service runs betweenSeoul-Sinchangroute and other lines. Nuriro Train serves commuters aroundSeoul Metropolitan Area,providing shorter travel time thanSeoul Subway.The rapid trains have same cost and seat reservation as Mugunghwa-ho. Korail plans to expand the service area.[3](Stopped its service)

Subways

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Main article:Rapid transit in South Korea

South Korea's six largest cities —Seoul,Busan,Daegu,Gwangju,DaejeonandIncheon— all have subway systems.

Seoul's subway systemis the oldest system in the country, with theSeoul Station–Cheongnyangnisection ofLine 1opening in 1974.

Trams

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The firsttramline in Seoul started operation betweenSeodaemunandCheongnyangniin December 1898. The network was expanded to cover the whole downtown area (Jung-guandJongno-gudistricts) as well as surrounding neighbourhoods, includingCheongnyangniin the east,Mapo-guin the west, andNoryangjinacross theHan Riverto the south.

The networks reached its peak in 1941,[4]but was abandoned in favor of cars and the development of a subway system in 1968.Seoul Subway Line 1andLine 2follow the old streetcar routes alongJongnoandEuljiro,respectively.

A new tram line is scheduled to open in Seoul in 2025, and openings are planned in Suwon and Seongnam in Gyeonggi-do, as well as in Busan and Daejeon.

Buses

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Regional services

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Highway bus lane onGyeongbu ExpresswayinSouth Korea.

Virtually all towns in South Korea of all sizes are served by regional bus service. Regional routes are classified asgosok bus(고속버스, "high speed" express bus) orsioe bus(시외버스, "suburban" intercity bus) with gosok buses operating over the longer distances and making the fewest (if any) stops en route. Shioe buses typically operate over shorter distances, are somewhat slower, and make more stops. It is possible to reach another city byintercity buses.From Seoul, the place is Express Bus Terminal, the subway station is served by Seoul Subway Lines 3, 7 and 9.

Local services

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Local bus in Seoul

Within cities and towns, two types of city bus operate in general:jwaseok(좌석, "coach" ) anddosihyeong(도시형, "city type" ) oripseok(입석, "standing" ). Both types of bus often serve the same routes, make the same (or fewer) stops and operate on similar frequencies, but jwaseok buses are more expensive and offer comfortable seating, while doshihyeong buses are cheaper and have fewer and less comfortable seats. Many small cities and towns do not have jwaseok buses and their buses are officially callednongeochon(농어촌, "rural area" bus). The local buses in Seoul and other cities are categorized by colours: the blue buses are trunk lines that cross the entire city, the green ones are circulator/short run lines that connect passengers with subway or railway stations, and the red buses are express lines go out of the city to nearby suburbs.

Some cities have their own bus classifying systems.

Bus type Seoul Busan Daegu Daejeon
Jwaseok (좌석) Rapid: Gwangyeok (광역), red
Trunk: Ganseon (간선), blue		 Rapid: Geuphaeng (급행)
Coach: Jwaseok (좌석)		 Rapid: Geuphaeng (급행)
Trunk Coach: Ganseon jwaseok (간선좌석)		 Rapid: Geuphaeng (급행), red
Trunk: Ganseon (간선), blue
Doshihyeong (도시형 also known as city style)/Ipseok (입석) Trunk: Ganseon (간선), blue
Branch: Jiseon (지선), green		 Regular: Ilban (일반) Circulation: Sunhwan (순환)
Trunk: Ganseon (간선)
Branch: Jiseon (간선)		 Trunk: Ganseon (간선), blue
Branch: Jiseon, green
Village Branch: Jiseon (지선), green
Circulation: Sunhwan (순환), yellow		 Village: Maeul-bus (마을버스 also known as village bus) N/A Branch: Jiseon (지선), green
Outer: Oegwak (외곽), green
Village: Maeul-bus (마을버스)

Other services

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A limousine bus departing from Incheon Airport bus station to Jamsil subway station in Seoul.
A limousine bus departing fromIncheon International Airportbus station

Incheon International Airportis served by an extensive network of high-speed buses from all parts of the country.

Beginning in the late 1990s, many department stores operated their own small networks of free buses for shoppers, but government regulation, confirmed by a court decision on June 28, 2001, have banned department stores from operating buses.[5]However, most churches, daycare centres and private schools send buses around to pick up their congregants, patients or pupils.

Roads

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Main article:Road transport in South Korea
Further information:Expressways in South Korea
Expressway arteries throughout South Korea

Highways in South Korea are classified asfreeways(expressways/motorways), national roads and various classifications below the national level. Almost all freeways aretoll highwaysand most of the expressways are built, maintained and operated byKorea Expressway Corporation(KEC).

The freeway network serves most parts of South Korea. Tolls are collected using anelectronic toll collectionsystem. KEC also operatesservice amenities(dining and service facilities) en route.

There are also several privately financed toll roads.Nonsan-Cheonan Expressway,Daegu-Busan Expressway,Incheon International Airport Expressway,Seoul-Chuncheon Expresswayand parts of theSeoul Ring Expresswayare wholly privately funded and operatedBOTconcessions.Donghae Expresswaywas built in cooperation between KEC and the National Pension Service.

Approaching Seoul fromIncheon International Airport

Total length of the South Korean road network was 86,989 km in 1998. Of this, 1,996 km was expressways and 12,447 km national roads. By 2009, combined length of the expressways had reached approximately 3,000 km, it mostly equal to the whole area of South Korea

Total (2014)[6] Expressways National roads Paved Unpaved
105,672 km 4,138 km 13,708 km 89,701 km 8,218 km

Waterways

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Virtually cut off from the Asian mainland, South Korea is a seafaring nation, with one of the world's largestshipbuildingindustries and an extensive system offerryservices. South Korea operates one of the largest merchant fleets servingChina,Japanand theMiddle East.Most fleet operators are large conglomerates, while most ferry operators are small, private operators.

There are 1,609 km of navigablewaterwaysin South Korea, though use is restricted to small craft.

Ferries

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Busan International Ferry Terminal

The southern and westerns coasts of the country are dotted with small islands which are served by ferries. In addition, the larger offshoreJejuandUlleungIslands are also served byferry.Major centres forferryservice includeIncheon,Mokpo,PohangandBusan,as well as China and Japan.

Ports and harbours

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The cities have major portsJinhae,Incheon,Gunsan,Masan,Mokpo,Pohang,Busan(Busan Port),Donghae,Ulsan,Yeosu,Jeju.

Merchant Marine

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In 1999, there was a total of 461merchant ships(1,000 GT or over) totalling 5,093,620 GT/8,100,634 tonnesdeadweight(DWT). These are divisible by type as follows:[7]

  • bulk 98
  • cargo 149
  • chemical tanker 39
  • combination bulk 4
  • container 53
  • liquefied gas 13
  • multi-functional large load carrier 1
  • passenger 3
  • petroleum tanker 61
  • refrigerated cargo 26
  • roll-on/roll-off 4
  • specialised tanker 4
  • vehicle carrier 6

Air travel

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Korean Airwas founded by the government in 1962 to replaceKorean National Airlinesand has been privately owned since 1969. It was South Korea's sole airline until 1988. In 2008, Korean Air served 2,164 million passengers, including 1,249 million international passengers.[8]

A second carrier,Asiana Airlines,was established in 1988 and originally served Seoul,JejuandBusandomestically andBangkok,Singapore,JapanandLos Angelesinternationally. By 2006, Asiana served 12 domestic cities, 66 cities in 20 foreign countries for commercial traffic and 24 cities in 17 countries for cargo traffic.[9]

Combined, South Korean airlines currently serve 297 international routes.[10]Smaller airliners, such asAir Busan,Jin Air,Eastar JetandJeju Air,provide domestic service and Japan/Southeast Asian route with lower fares.

South Korea contains thebusiest passenger air corridoras measured by passengers per year. Over ten million people traveled between Seoul Gimpo Airport and Jeju in 2015 alone. As competition is fierce and prices affordable, the trend has been increasingly towards more air travel on this route. Similarly, air travel is also growing between Jeju and other mainland airports. There is discussion about aJeju Undersea Tunnelwhich would make many of these domestic flights redundant.

Along other routes, air travel competes with the KTXhigh speed railservice and has declined in the 2000s and 2010s.

Airports

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See also:List of airports in South Korea

Construction of South Korea's largest airport,Incheon International Airport,was completed in 2001, in time for the2002 FIFA World Cup.By 2007, the airport was serving 30 million passengers a year.[11]The airport has been selected as the "Best Airport Worldwide" for four consecutive years since 2005 byAirports Council International.[12]

Seoul is also served byGimpo International Airport(formerly Kimpo International Airport). International routes mainly serveIncheon,while domestic services mainly useGimpo.Other major airports are inBusanandJeju.

There are 103 airports inSouth Korea(1999 est.) and these may be classified as follows.

Airports with paved runways:
total: 67
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 18
1,524 to 2,437 m: 15
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 20 (1999 est.)

Airports with unpaved runways:
total: 36
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 32 (1999 est.)

Heliports: 203 (1999 est.)

Pipelines

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These pipelines are for petroleum products. Additionally, there is a parallel petroleum, oils and lubricants (POL) pipeline being completed

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toTransport in South Korea.

References

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  • Public DomainThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.South Korea: A Country Study.Federal Research Division.
  1. ^"Incheon Airport maglev unveiled".Railway Gazette. 20 May 2014.Retrieved9 January2015.
  2. ^ab"Infrastructure Development in Korea"(PDF).United Nations Public Administration Network.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  3. ^무궁화호 열차 점차 사라진다,YTN,2009년 6월 6일
  4. ^서대문-청량리~: 이이화, 《한국사이야기22. 빼앗긴 들에 부는 근대화바람》(한길사, 2004) 49쪽.
  5. ^"Ban on the Shuttle Bus Operation Case".Constitutional Court of Korea. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-07-22.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  6. ^"Yearly Road Statistics".KOSIS. 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 2015-10-08.Retrieved2015-10-08.
  7. ^"Ships by type (most recent) by country".nationmaster.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  8. ^"Company Info / Overview".Korean Air.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  9. ^"Overview / General Info".Asiana Airlines. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-07-08.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  10. ^"International Aviation Policy".Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-09-15.Retrieved2005-05-19.
  11. ^"Incheon International Airport celebrates its eighth year".Incheon International Airport Corp. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-12-24.Retrieved2005-05-20.
  12. ^"Incheon International Airport, Best Airport Worldwide for 4 Years Straight".Incheon International Airport Corp.Retrieved2005-05-20.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toTransport in South Korea.
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