Public transport in South Korea is second to none that I’ve seen before, certainly on par with the likes of Switzerland. Buses, Trains and Subway systems are clean, modern, comfortable, and efficient with signs provided in both Korean and Roman characters so that hapless foreigners can get around without to much difficulty!
For my journey to Busan (in the South) I took a high speed KTX train, comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen (bullet train) or France’s TGV (which KTX technology is based on). Travelling at over 300 km/h the journey only takes 2.5 hours, cut from 6 hours on a normal train! Unsurprisingly, although the tickets aren’t cheap, they’re still considerably less that what you’d pay for the same length journey in the UK and even less if you buy a group ticket.
Shooting through the mountainous countryside of Korea I saw another side to the country, quite unlike the sprawling megalopolis of Seoul. Small cities, farms and industrial complexes all passed in the blink of an eye, perhaps reflecting the speed at which South Korea has developed over the past 50 years. Korea is undoubtedly a beautiful land and still relatively unspoiled. It has yet to take off as a major tourist destination which in my opinion makes it even more attractive.
The journey was to be about the only rest bite I got that day leading up to a fairly frenetic evening in the neon lit thoroughfares of Busan!
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KTX was smaller than i’d expected. narrow space between seats! but it was a great experience to get on KTX
The seat sized seemed to be the same as on European trains, I’m guessing because it’s based on the French design. I was surprised to see the size of the seats on standard trains in Korea - they were about the same as American trains but you don’t see any fat people in Korea!!
ahhh good analysis! thanks David.
Well I’ve never heard about the safety standars about KTX in the last three years the KTX had 1,000 accidents and counting Japan’s train seams safer and the Acela train is safer than KTX in a way.
KTX is marked as the speed train with more accidents in the world more than any other train that is why Japan’s train is so safe.
KTX is not based on the TGV technology. It is a TGV.