ZCZC
BSP-03
OLY-2018-KOR-SKOREA-TRANSPORT
S. Korea opens high-speed line to Winter Olympic venues
SEOUL, Dec 22, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Emblazoned with a tiger and a bear — the
mascots of the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics — a blue and white high-
speed train rolled out of Seoul station Friday as a new line to the venues
opened to the public.
The railway, part of South Korea’s KTX network, cuts travel times
significantly, reaching Jinbu – the station for the snow sports in
Pyeongchang – in one hour and 20 minutes from Seoul, and another 16 minutes
to Gangneung on the east coast, where ice events will take place.
During the Games 51 trains will operate a day on the 278-kilometre line,
which starts from Incheon airport southwest of the capital, with a total
capacity of 20,910 passengers.
Previously travellers from Seoul to Pyeongchang have mostly had to go by
road — around a three hour drive.
Many other Olympics and other major sporting events have had trouble
preparing infrastructure, with dashes to complete stadiums and other
facilities in time, but in South Korea the process has been highly competent.
Even so the Games remain overshadowed by tensions with the nuclear-armed
North, and the Russian national team has been banned over accusations of
state-sponsored doping, although ticket sales have picked up.
On Thursday, marking 50 days to go before the opening ceremony, the Games’
chief organiser Lee Hee-beom said: “We are very proud of what we have created
in Pyeongchang and the efficiency with which the venues and infrastructure
have been built.
“We have worked hard over the last seven years to make our dream a reality
and now the international sports festival is within reach for us all.”
BSS/AFP/MR/1045hrs