The Preliminary Service Plan for Introducing Tilting-Train to Gyeongbu-line on the Korean Rail Network

초록

We considered the introduction of tilting train services into the Gyeongbu (Seoul ~ Busan 443km) line which is the first arterial rail corridor of the country. The existing Gyeongbu line links the first and second cities of the country along with the Seoul-Busan High-Speed Rail. It was upgraded from non-electrified double track to double electrified track with alignment upgrade as far as possible in 2004. Because the upgrade of the conventional Gyeongbu line was aiming at double electrified track with the existing alignment utilized to the maximum, it has a lot of curves with small radii and the maximum track speed of only 135 to 140 km/h. As such, it is not expected to be further upgraded in terms of infrastructure and speed range. In this paper, we will first evaluated the potential of a speed-up of tilting trains on curves, on the basis of tilting train trial run data on the Gyeongbu line and present tilting trains’ competitiveness in terms of travel time and speed. Then the feasibility analysis has been connected in terms of social-economic impact of tilting train service. Finally, the preliminary service plan was suggested which might lead to introduce tilting train service on the existing Gyeongbu line in Korean rail network.