hankyoreh

Huh Jun-young

The Korea Train eXpress (KTX) celebrated five years of service Wednesday. What changes has it brought to South Korean society during that time?

A look at its service report card shows that in those five years it has traveled some 98.99 million kilometers, equivalent to around 2,500 trips around the world. During that time, it has carried 173,450,000 passengers, equivalent to three times the population of South Korea. Last year it averaged 100,000 passengers per day and pulled in some 2.9 billion won in ticket sales.

KTX has turned the major cities along the Seoul-Busan axis into a zone easily traveled within half a day, and when the entire span of the Gyeongbu Line is connected with an exclusive line this October, it is anticipated that it will be possible to complete a run from Seoul to Busan in just two and a half hours. A 2008 Korea Research Center study shows that KTX accounted for 63 percent of passenger transportation between Seoul and Busan, indicating that it has clearly established its place as a means of long-distance transportation.

However, a report also indicated that KTX’s developments have also generated considerable negative effects, including the so-called “straw effect,” fanning the concentration of activity in the Seoul area, and eroding the domestic airline industry including regional airports. Some are commenting on the urgent need for government policy measures to remedy this.

At a “KTX Five-Year Anniversary Seminar” held Tuesday at the Kim Koo Museum and Library, Hur Jae-wan, a professor of urban and regional planning at Chung-Ang University, said that the average rate of population change in Seoul was -0.09 percent between 1999 and 2003, but that it rose to 0.35 percent between 2004 and 2007 following the introduction of KTX. “In the same period, the average rates of population change for Daegu and Daejeon, two cities placed on the KTX route, fell from 0.3 percent to -0.32 percent and from 1.33 percent to 0.83 percent respectively,” Hur said.

Cities with KTX stations have also experienced a conspicuous reduction in commercial power. In the case of Cheonan, an increasing number of residents have been traveling to Seoul on KTX to shop, leading to a visible decrease in local department store sales.

Another result has been a drop in competitive power among domestic airlines and airports along the Gyeongbu axis. A comparison of passenger numbers for 2003 and 2008 shows a decrease of more than half for the airports in Daegu and Sacheon.

Gimhae International Airport and Gimpo International Airport have also seen drops of 1.58 million and 2.62 million passengers, respectively.

“It appears that the capital region will expand in the future to include Daejeon,” said Professor Hur. “Powerful policy measures need to be carried out to spur local urban development and balanced development for the entire national territory,” he added.

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