KOTI - Korea Transport institute

The introduction of high-speed railways in Korea has spurred the revival of domestic railways. High-speed railways not only contributed to developing railway technologies but also changed lifestyle patterns. And also it makes railway settling in major transportation in Korea. In order to persistently maintain this rail revival, continuous technological development is necessary by understanding riders and collecting and analyzing technology trends. If new developments don’t meet the needs of the ridership, rail will tumble back as an outdated form of transportation. When KTX was initiated on April 1, 2004 lifestyles changed and there was a direct national economic impact. However, questions have been raised about whether all these changes came in direct relation of the introduction of KTX. While the rail industry has increased in size so has Korail’s cumulative debt. However, this debt came from departments unrelated to high-speed rail. As successful operation of KTX continues it simplifies the ability to promote the system to global markets which then in turn helps realize the development of the Korean railway industry. The questions that remains is “did the introduction of KTX contribute to regional development?” Some insist that due to KTX people have been drawn to the Seoul Metropolitan Area more intensely than in previous years. While it is true that interchange to the metropolitan area has increased since the introduction of KTX, Seoul’s population has been on continued decline since 2011; the first time since population statistics have been recorded. This evidence refutes the concept that KTX is accelerating concentration in the metropolitan area. In addition, KTX operation achieves regional development through the use of infrastructure in the metropolitan area. Economic impact of high-speed rail is associated with the success of Japan and Europe’s urban development and station area development. In revitalizing urban areas, KTX stations should be included in order for said revitalizations to be more effective. All KTX stations are difficult to develop and contain a low probability of success. However, if station development is constructed in cooperation with public facilities such as exhibition halls or conference facilities, it helps to solve not also traffic problems but activates the regional economy. This study is focused on the positive effects that occurred to the national economy contributed by KTX operation. However, while the high-speed train has had a positive impact on the national economy, it also has several negative effects. When many local governments are located in proximity to a KTX station, their governments tend to regress with long lasting effects. Based on the actual ridership demands development must be taken on a step by step basis through a specialized development plan and instead of a sudden jump in growth