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The KTX-Sancheon is a South Korean high-speed train built by Hyundai Rotem in the second half of the 2000s and operated by Korail since March 2009. With a top speed of , the KTX-Sancheon is the second commercial high-speed train developed in South Korea. ==History== When South Korea started its high-speed rail project, rolling stock and infrastructure was built in the framework of a technology transfer agreement between GEC-Alsthom (today Alstom), the main maker of French TGV high-speed trains, and South Korean companies. Thus Korea Train Express (KTX) began operating with KTX-I trains, which were derived from the TGV Réseau, and built both by Alstom and Rotem. The technology transfer agreement did not provide for a complete control of manufacturing processes, and construction involved the import of parts. To increase the domestic added value, in 1996, an alliance of South Korean government research agencies, universities, and private companies started a project called G7 to develop domestic high-speed rail technology. The main element of the G7 project was the 7-car experimental high-speed train HSR-350x, originally intended as the prototype of a train with 20-car and 11-car versions for commercial service.〔 The experimental train was used for trials from 2002, and achieved the South Korean rail speed record of on December 16, 2004. Already before HSR-350x was finished, in 2001, a study focusing on the needs of the less frequented Honam Line proposed a modified, modular train that allows shorter configurations by removing traction equipment from the intermediate cars next to the traction heads, while reducing top speed to .〔 Possible configurations would have been 12-car, 10-car, and 8-car versions with two traction heads and 8-car, 6-car versions with one traction head and a driving trailer. The versions with two traction heads would have offered 500, 384 and 268 seats respectively.〔 The active passenger compartment pressure control system of the HSR-350x wasn't deemed necessary for the proposed Honam high-speed train, only pressure isolation as in the KTX-I.〔 The view that shorter trains have to be added to the KTX rolling stock for operational flexibility was reinforced by the actual Honam KTX seat occupation trends after the launch of KTX services on April 1, 2004 with the 20-car KTX-I trains. In July 2005, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation earmarked ₩80 billion for two 10-car commercial trains for , destined for planned KTX services on the Jeolla Line from 2008. In October 2005, however, Korail called competitive bids. Rotem, offering a commercial version of the HSR-350x, was chosen over Alstom as preferred bidder for the ₩300 billion order in December 2005. The order for 10 trains for a price equal to $306 million was placed on June 6, 2006. Six of the trainsets were intended for the Honam KTX service from June 2009, four for the Jeolla KTX service from June 2010.〔〔 A second batch of nine sets was ordered in December 2007, intended for Gyeongjeon KTX services between Seoul and Masan, to be delivered by December 2010. A third batch of five sets was ordered on December 9, 2008; for delivery by December 2011, intended to strengthen Gyeongbu KTX services. A mock-up showing the exterior and interior design of two passenger cars was shown at exhibitions in 2007, with one of the mock-up cars built as a driving trailer to also display the nose design of the traction heads of the actual train. On November 25, 2008, the first KTX-II set was revealed to the public in a roll-out ceremony at the Hyundai Rotem factory in Changwon. Hyundai Rotem also offered the KTX-II in the competition to supply rolling stock for Brazil's Rio–São Paulo project. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「KTX-Sancheon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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