GTXtension(s) - fast transit rather than mass commuting?

In case you missed it, three new projects of GTX (Great Train eXpress) lines were announced earlier this year. Since we're getting closer to the inauguration of the first section on March 30 (GTX-A from Suseo to Dongtan), but also to key elections on April 10, I'll spare you all the wonderful urban development pledges that have popped up from all sides (I guess merging Gimpo with Seoul was one of the most radical), and talk a bit more about these Great Train extensions and GTX-tensions.

By stretching ABC and adding DEF, the network reaches further North, South, West, and East, and draws a first ring around Seoul and across Gyeonggi-do (GTX-F):

If GTX clearly brings places closer together, dividing by 3 the time to join Suseo and Dongtan, and if it reaches relatively fast speeds (105 km/h in its inaugural section, with peaks at 180 km/h), the system is 'express' in the sense that it makes few stops. And so far, it has more or less managed to resist intense pressure to add intermediary stations, particularly within Seoul. 

Which makes the success of seamless multimodal transport hubs even more critical, and I'm not sure that will be the case from day one. 'Luckily', the traffic shall not be too massive, because as it is conceived now, GTX can't really handle mass commuting. 

Beyond the limited number of trains per hour, their shortness is an issue, and commuters may struggle to find a spot to hop in, particularly in intermediary stations. I've experienced rush hour on Paris region's RER, with its long, double-decker trains, and that's not always pleasant... We may not see scenes similar to Line 9 saturation on steroids, but expect at least significant frustration from a lot of people who were expecting GTX as the instant panacea.

GTX provides fast transit before mass transit, it shortens connections before coping with mass commuting, and that's already something big. Even if you won't commute to work there, simply knowing that you can go to Seoul very quickly for lunch, dinner, or on a weekend can make moving far away less alienating. 

These massive and costly extensions do add Gangwon-do (Chuncheon and Wonju) and Chungcheongnam-do (Cheonan) to the equation, but also risk of further widening the gaps between sudogwon (Seoul-Incheon-Gyeonggi) and the rest of Korea as well as within the capital region and within the capital itself. With its relatively cheap fees (KRW 3.2K + 250 per 5 km), GTX may even cannibalize such alternatives as KTX.

The choices of routes and stations is always debatable and many areas within and beyond Seoul will remain underserved, but I always welcome transversal approaches in transport, and cooperation within the capital region. Nowadays, Seoul is collaborating much closer with Gyeonggi-do, including for its Climate Card now, and a ring bringing Gyeonggi closer together and bypassing the capital altogether marks a significant step.

Somehow, GTX is forcing the emergenceof  the grand vision, the great debate that's always been lacking. The way this whole region keeps developing remains a litany of missed opportunities, particularly since most of this urban and transport development (or lack of) relied on new towns built from scratch. And you know how often I complain about so much urban planning without urbanism or planning.

Now we're hearing about covering the Gyeongin Expressway and the rift between the Eastern and Western sides of Dongtan new town, and both will cost a fortune, but the Seoul-Inchon axis dates from ages ago, and that rift should have been solved from Dongtan's very conception. As demographics plummet and finances shrink, Korea can't afford not to get it right from the beginning. 

This nation is so great at alphabets, it should contemplate beyond ABCDEF.

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New KTX vertical to Gangnam by 2015

Suseo Station has been confirmed as the terminus of the Suseo High Speed Railway (Suseo HSR), a KTX vertical line connecting Southwest Seoul with the main axis Seoul-Busan (Gyeongbu HSR) at Pyeongtaek.

Looking at this old map, covering the Northeastern quarter of the country seemed a priority, but Korail has recently improved the Gyeongchun Line (ITX connecting Chuncheon with Cheongnyangni, Seoul Station), and the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics will KTXize and extend this horizontal axis ("KTX coast to coast Incheon-Gangneung"), even if it may not reach the East Sea for budgetary reasons. Furthermore, 40% of South Koreans live in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do.

So. Again. Ultraprivileged Gangnam-Bundang areas are blessed with major transport infrastructures: Suseo Station, which already connects Line 3 with Bundang Line, will become one of the Capital's biggest hubs.

Express Bus Terminal (Lines 3, 7, 9) may have to balance between the KTX stations of Yeongdeungpo (Line 9) and Suseo, whereas north of the Han river, the Seoul Station - Cheongnyangni horizontal axis looks much more simple, with both centers directly connected via Line 1.

Suseo HSR will connect with Gyeongbu HSR at a future Pyeongtaek Junction, north of Cheonan-Asan Station, with two stations in between:
- Jije Station in Jije-dong, Pyeongtaek (Line 1)
- Dongtan Station (New Dongtan City in Hwaseong)

Let's focus more on the other two winners of the deal:

• Dongtan new town is to cover about 24,000 square meters, and to propose 40,000 dwellings to an expected population of 120,000. But today, it is not directly on the subway map: Seodongtan Station is the sole station on a branchlet of Line 1.
• Among South Korea's biggest harbors and industrial complexes Pyeongtaek will soon add the US troops leaving Yongsan, Uijeongbu, and Dongducheon to an already impressive military hub comprising two USFK facilities.

The 61 km stretch will be inaugurated in 2015. 

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Climate Change in Korea

After a two day break, monsoon is back. But the monsoon season is supposed to be over, and those record breaking downpours that are drowning Korea and killing dozens raise again the issue of climate change.

In this country, everything moves 빨리 빨리. Even the weather. Korea has already experienced dramatic changes over the past 100 years : average temperatures have gained 1.8 degrees celcius, winters are 2 to 3 weeks shorter and summers 2 to 3 weeks longer, Jeju-do has become a semi-tropical island, and extreme years have multiplied since 1991.

Over the past 20 years, I did experience extreme episodes firsthand, mostly typhoons or flash floods transforming streets into rapids*, or the staircases of a downtown subway station into mini-Niagara falls. But I never saw the Hangang completely frozen, except on pictures from the 50s. And I've had my share of fantastic years with mild winters and pleasant summers.

We already knew Korea was at some kind of frontier, and thus more likely to major changes : if Vladivostock is not far away, its harbor is often caught in ice during the winter, unlike those of the whole peninsula (even if the North, more mountainous, usually faces tougher winters than the South). That's one of the reasons why the federation invested in the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone in North Korea (Rason / Raseon logistic hub).

Ironically, as they pressed for more food relief, Pyeongyang propagandists forged just a few days ago a photo showing floods that didn't exist... Photoshop doesn't seem that necessary now. Images from the South are also hard to believe, but they are unfortunately true : the tragic landslides in Chuncheon or Umyeongsan**, cars crushed or drowned like toys...

Water's power of destruction showed no mercy for such wealthy areas as Daechi-dong (Gangnam-gu) or Bangbae-dong (Seocho-gu), but miraculously spared Seoul's fragile "moon villages" (generally close to mountain tops). Among the Umyeong-dong victims of the landslide, the wife of Shinsegae's chairman died in her own cellar. And another mudslide hit Ihwajang, the former home of President Syngman Rhee in Hyehwa-dong. Mobile networks went down at the heart of Gangnam, home to the new Samsung HQs and Teheran-ro start ups.

The powers that be have all been humbled and forced to reconsider their scenarii, up to the plans they had updated last year. Seoul and Korea will adapt once more, and one can hope today's tragedies will foster positive changes in urbanism and environment.

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* like last Chuseok (see "Chusoaked"), or my wet dog moment in 2008 (see "open air pool")
** Seoul Arts Center was hit, but Cezanne & co ("Musee d'Orsay in Seoul") are safe, but there too, many people died.

Tour de Korea

Last stage* for the 2010 "Tour de Corée" : tomorrow in Seoul, starting with a 5.1 km parade between Olympic Park and Mongchontoseong Station (between 9:50 and 9:59 AM).

A 49.2 km race will follow, with a finish planned at 11:04 at Sejongno Sageori, where the barnum shall pass 8 mn earlier for a loop around Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo via Cheonghwadae, Samcheong-dong, and Jongro. Don't even think about driving your car in the area : come by subway and enjoy the show.

For the 10th edition, this finish on Sejongno mirrors Tour de France finishes on the Champs Elysees (even if in Paris, there's much more than one loop). Last year's winner came from Switzerland (Roger Beuchat).
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* 10 stages overall :
- Jeju (177 km + 1 km parade)
- Gangjin-Yeosu (138.6 km + 4)
- Yeosu-Gunsan (219 km + 6)
- Gunsan-Dangjin (149.7 km + 1.4)
- Dangjin-Cheongju (162.2 km + 9.7)
- Cheongju-Gumi (198 km + 7.5)
- Gumi-Yeongju (144 km + 9.9)
- Yeongju-Yangyang (225.2 km + 9.5)
- Yangyang-Chuncheon (145.5 km + 9)
- Seoul (49.2 km + 5.1)