Express railway GTX-A opens Paju-Seoul section

[Anchor]

The metropolitan express railway, GTX-A, will open the section from Paju to Seoul Station tomorrow (12.28).

Now, it will be possible to travel between Paju and Seoul in just 22 minutes.

However, the opening of Samsung Station, a key stop in the Gangnam area, is still pending.

Oh Dae-seong reports.

[Report]

The newly constructed GTX-A platform inside Seoul Station.

The train waiting is preparing to depart.

["The train doors are closing."]

The train quickly reaches a maximum speed of 180 km/h.

It took 21 minutes and 30 seconds to pass through 4 stations to arrive at Paju Unjeong Central Station, only taking 12 minutes to Daegok Station in Goyang City and passing KINTEX Station.

The distance that used to take 46 minutes by subway and 66 minutes by express bus has become much closer.

Since the train operates about 50 meters underground on average, it takes quite a while to get from the waiting area to the platform.

It took over 4 minutes when I stood still on the escalator.

If you take the high-speed elevator, it takes about 1 minute.

The first train will operate early tomorrow (12.28), with a service interval of 10 minutes for the time being.

The daily number of passengers is expected to reach 50,000.

[Jeong Ji-yoon/Paju, Gyeonggi Province: "For this area, it feels like a lifeline. It feels like a lifeline. (I would) gladly pay more for the fare to save time."]

Following the opening of the Suseo-Dongtan line in March, this additional opening has brought us closer to Seoul, but due to delays in the construction of 'Samsung Station,' a key station in the Gangnam area, it will have to operate divided between the north and south areas for the time being.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced plans to connect Samsung Station with a non-stop service in the first half of 2026 and to fully open it in 2028.

This is KBS News, Oh Dae-seong.