Honam Line (KTX)

Honam High Speed Railway
The Honam HSR (in teal)
Overview
Native name	호남고속철도
Type	High-speed rail
System	Korea Train Express
Status	Operational
Locale	South Korea
Termini	Osong Station, Cheongju Mokpo Station, Jeollanam-do (Gwangju Songjeong Station, Gwangju)
Line number	102 (KR)
Operation
Opened	April 1, 2015
Owner	Korail
Operator(s)	Korea Train Express
Technical
Line length	230.99 km (143.53 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV/60 Hz Catenary
Operating speed	350 km/h (220 mph)

The Honam High Speed Railway (Honam HSR) is a high-speed railway between Osong (on the existing Gyeongbu High Speed Railway) and Mokpo in South Korea. The line is a part of Korail's Korea Train Express (KTX) system, accelerating Seoul-Mokpo and Seoul-Gwangju KTX high-speed services which currently use the existing conventional Honam Line. On April 1, 2015, the line was inaugurated by the South Korean President Park Geun-hye with the attendance of 1200 invited guests and members of the public at Gwangju Songjeong Station in Gwangju, the line's terminus. The line diverges from Osong Station on the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway, and stops at Gongju, Iksan, Jeongeup Stations. Journey times between Seoul and Gwangju has been cut from 2 h 40 min to just 90 min, making daily commuting possible. The Honam HSR is intended to bring business, and economic opportunities to the province of Jeollanam-do, which has seen slower development than other parts of South Korea. The line has been open to the public since April 2, 2015 for revenue service.

The most progressed plans for a second high-speed line were for the Honam High Speed Railway, a connection from Seoul to Mokpo in southwest Korea, accelerating the service on the existing route that was eventually established in KTX's first phase.

The first feasibility study in 2003 came to the conclusion that the construction of a full line is not justified by demand, and proposed a two-stage construction. The first stage, to be realised by 2015, would involve a connection from a second Seoul terminus in the southeast part of the city to the Gyeongbu HSR, and a branch from the Gyeongbu HSR to Iksan, paralleling the existing Honam Line. The second phase, to be realised by 2020, would include the separate tracks on the section paralleling the Gyeongbu Line, and the extension from Iksan to Gwangju and Mokpo, paralleling the existing Honam Line. The cost of the entire project was estimated at 10,378.6 billion won.