Express-centric train operation of Korean capital wide-area railroad

There has been the increase of interest in the materialization of rapid transit system for the reduction of wide-area travel time between cities or provinces. Wide-area railroad is for handling the immense demands for daily transportation between cities or provinces by any relevant laws, the function and role of which is different from that of urban railroad constructed for smooth operation of urban traffic. But, as a matter of fact, the distinction between wide-area railroad and urban railroad is ambiguous. The analysis of inter-city or inter-province travel pattern in metropolitan area revealed the average speed of 45km/h, which is approximate to that of 47km/h in the system of wide-area railroad, which indicates that the role and the function for speed of express trains with the average speed of 58km/h is not enough. It was found that scheduled speed and stop spacing of express trains on Korean wide-area railroad were similar to or higher than those of the wide-area railroad system in Tokyo metropolis area of Japan where both local and express trains are served while the running frequency and the running distance of Japanese express trains were 42~46% and 180% of those of local ones respectively, which figures are a lot higher than those of Korea, 7~23% and 47~111% respectively. So, this paper analyzed problems of Korean wide-area railroad operation and suggested strategies of express-centric operating. As a result, it was saved average 10~30 minute when it replaced the express-centric with the local-centric. In conclusion, Korean wide-area railroad need the express-centric railroad operation.