Jeolla Line

Jeolla Line
Overview
Native name 전라선(全羅線)
Type Heavy rail, Passenger/freight rail
Intercity rail, Regional rail
Status Operational
Locale North Jeolla, South Jeolla
Termini Iksan
Yeosu EXPO
Stations 30
Operation
Opened Stages between 1914-1936
Owner Korea Rail Network Authority
Operator(s) Korail
Technical
Line length 180.4 km (112.1 mi)
Number of tracks Double track (Iksan - Yeocheon)
Single track (Yeocheon - Yeosu EXPO)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 60 Hz AC Overhead line
Operating speed 230 km/h (140 mph) (maximum)
Route map
Legend
 Honam Line
 0.0 Iksan
 Janghang Line
 Honam Line
 2.8 East Iksan
 13.6 Samrye
 Mangyeong river
 17.6 Dongsan
 Bukjeonju Line
 25.5 Jeonju
 34.9 Silli
 40.0 Jungnim Oncheon
 49.0 Gwanchon
 53.0 Imsil
 59.3 Bongcheon
 63.6 Osu
 69.5 Seodo
 75.9 Sanseong
 79.5 Namwon
85.3 Jusaeng
 88.3 Ongjeong
 91.4 Geumji
 ↑North Jeolla/South Jeolla↓
 97.1 Gokseong
 108.6 Amnok
 117.4 Guryegu
 121.0 Bongdeok
 126.2 Goemok
 134.4 Gaeun
 137.6 Dongun
 Gyeongjeon Line
 145.6 Suncheon
 Gyeongjeon Line
150.8 Seongsan
 157.0 Yulchon
Sinpung Until 2011
 165.6 Deogyang
 Yeocheon Line
 170.9 Yeocheon
 Mipyeong Until 2011
 Manseong Until 2011
 180.4 Yeosu EXPO
Jeolla Line
Hangul 전라선
Hanja 全羅線
Revised Romanization Jeollaseon
McCune–Reischauer Chŏllasŏn

The Jeolla Line is a railway line in North and South Jeolla Provinces in South Korea. The line is served by frequent passenger trains from Seoul (via the Gyeongbu and Honam Lines) to Yeosu. This line is planned to have KTX service by April 2011.

History

The first railway along a section of what became the Jeolla Line was the Chonbuk Line, a private narrow-gauge railway centered on Jeonju, which was opened on November 12, 1917.[1] In 1927, the line was nationalised.[1] Work on a normal-gauge replacement line started on April 18, 1929.[2] The Jeonju–Namwon section was completed in October 1931,[2] the Namwon–Gokseong section followed in October 1933,[2] finally the Gokseong–Suncheon section[2] on December 16, 1936.[3] The Suncheon–Yeosu section, which was completed on December 25, 1930, as part of the Gwangyu Line from Songjeong-ri to Yeosu,[1] was integrated with the line from Jeonju under the new name Jeolla Line.[1] The line was completed with the reconstruction of the Iri (today Iksan) to Jeonju section in March 1937.[1]

Upgrade

The upgrade of the Iksan-Suncheon section started with the construction of a bypass around Jeonju with wider curves, opened in 1981.

From 1989, the first phase of the project to re-lay and double-track the line, mostly in a new alignment with wider curves, longer tunnels and bridges, was launched on three sections between Sin-ri, at the end of the Jeonju realignment, and Suncheon. The two longest new structures were the 5,671 m (18,606 ft) long[4] Byeongpung Tunnel, north of Suncheon, and the 6,128 m (20,105 ft) long Seulchi Tunnel, south of Jeonju, which became South Korea's longest rail tunnel,[4] surpassing Jeongam Tunnel on the Taebaek Line.[5] The three sections of the first phase with altogether 64.3 km, shortening the original route by 16.7 km, were finished by 1999 and entered service on May 18, 1999.[4] The two gaps between those sections were plugged in a second phase in 2002 and August 2004, the altogether 58.3 km long new sections shortened the line by another 11.4 km.[4]

The third phase of the upgrading project, started in 2002, involved the double-tracking of the remaining 35.2 km long single-track section from Iksan to Sin-ri, until the end of the Jeonju realignment, and electrification of the entire double-tracked and re-aligned section from Iksan to Suncheon, altogether 154.2 km,[6] to allow speeds of 180 km/h.[7] By March 2010, progress on the 154.2 km section from Iksan to Suncheon reached 63.0%.[6] This phase of the project is implemented as a public private partnership of the Build-Transfer-Lease (BTL) method, with a government contribution of 510.852 billion won and a BTL share of 470.699 billion won.[6] The upgrade and re-alignment of the final Suncheon-Yeosu section was launched as a separate project in 2001,[8] with work starting in December 2003.[9] As of March 2010, progress on the 40.0 km long alignment stood at 88.0% out of a total budget of 732.002 billion won.[10] The entire upgrading project is to be completed in 2011.[6][10]

On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Jeolla Line is to be further upgraded for 230 km/h.[11]

Major stations

Major stations and junctions on the line:

Services

The Jeolla Line is served by intercity Saemaul-ho trains and cross-country Mugunghwa-ho trains. As of October 2010, the travel time on Saemaul from Yongsan Station in Seoul is a minimum 3 hours 28 minutes to Jeonju, 4 hours 33 minutes to Suncheon and 5 hours 15 minutes to Yeosu, with 2 hours 30 minutes taken for the Iksan—Jeosu travel along the Jeolla Line itself . Mugunghwa trains that also start in Yongsan cover the line from Iksan to Yeosu in between a minimum of 2 hours 30 minutes and a maximum of 4 hours, depending on the number of stops.[12]

Jeolla KTX

Yeosu will host the Expo 2012, and Korail timed the introduction of Korea Train Express services on the line ahead of the event.[9] Original plans foresaw the start of Jeolla KTX services in April 2011, reducing the Seoul–Yeosu travel time to 2 hours 55 minutes, using KTX-II (KTX-Sancheon) high-speed trains.[13] In February 2011, when the necessary electrification works were 96% complete, the start of services was postponed to September 2011, and the Yongsan–Yeosu travel time was planned to be 3 hours 7 minutes.[14] After the completion of the first stage of the Honam High Speed Railway, the travel time is planned to reduce to 2 hours 25 minutes.[13]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeolla Line.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "전라지방 - 교통∙통신체계의 발달" (PDF). Land Portal. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "안전제일 철도에서 위험천만 돌밭길로?". OhmyNews. 2001-11-24. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
  3. ↑ "경영원칙 > 경영공시 > 영업현황 > 영업거리현황". Korail. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 전라선 복선화 16년간의 대장정, 한국철도 지도를 바꾸다!. Railnews (in Korean). Korail. 2004-08-01. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  5. ↑ "From the coal transportation hub to the four-season leisure and sports gateway - Gohan Station (Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do).". InvestKorea. 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "전라선 복선전철화". Korea Rail Network Authority. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  7. ↑ "Korea's railways face a bright future". International Railway Journal. 2008-07-01. Archived from the original on 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  8. ↑ 지역 현안 사업 (in Korean). Mayor of Yeosu's office. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  9. 1 2 "South Korea's growing network". Railway Gazette International. 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  10. 1 2 "순천∼여수 복선전철". Korea Rail Network Authority. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  11. ↑ "Bullet trains coming to a town near you by 2020". JoongAng Daily. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  12. ↑ "Booking". Korail. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  13. 1 2 숙박ㆍ교통ㆍ민자 사업 어디까지 왔나 어디를 가도 '여수는 지금 공사중' 2조원 투입해 2년간 단계별 건립 도심연결 도로망ㆍ교통혼잡은 숙제 (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  14. ↑ "여수엑스포 SOC 사업, 속도 낸다" (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
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