KTX Derailment

The KTX has derailed for the first time ever on Friday 10th Feb approx 300 metres north of Gwangmyeong Station. Luckily it was moving slowly so nobody was injured. Nevertheless it has caused big delays and on the day, all KTXs had to use the original main track between Seoul and Daejeon. If the derailment had occurred just a couple of minutes earlier it could have been disastrous.

Korail says they suspect there was a malfunction with one of the switches but investigating the contents of the black box for any further causes. Judging by the photos, it looks as though it happened right on a crossover. The KTX was pulled out by a loco on Saturday and trains are able to use a single track of the tunnel at a reduced speed of 40 km/h.

The derailment couldn't come at worse time, especially since they are currently planning to build KTXs for use in Brazil and were also tendering for export into the U.S also.

Only 25 mins late? That's news?

Coming from Auckland and living in Seoul I have experienced both really amazing public transport and really horrible transport. It is interesting what makes the news over here. The other day Subway Line No. 2, which has the heaviest patronage of all lines was delayed by 25 minutes. It was all over the evening and internet news and it was such a big deal. It got me thinking, imagine if they had a news article every time trains got delayed at peak hour in Auckland!

And it gets better! On one particular morning the delays were so bad the subway stations issued proof of lateness tickets which workers could give to their bosses!