KTX-II Bullet Train will Launch in March

State-run Korean railway operator Korail has tested the country’s first homemade bullet train, KTX-II, ahead of its planned launch in March.

Built by Hyundai Rotem, this second version of the KTX can run at a top speed of 350kmph, equalling that of KTX’s first version built by France’s Alstom.

Other features include the ability to rotate at 360°, mobile TV receivers and wireless internet access. The train will be put into service on the lines linking Seoul and Busan, and Seoul and Gwangju in early March.

The train has been developed at a cost of KRW225.8bn ($196m) in a cooperative project between academia, government and industry, according to koreaherald.co.kr.