Jungang line

The double-tracking of the 18.0 km long section from the terminus Cheongnyangni to Deokso was completed first on December 16, 2005.[5] Work started in mid-2001 with a planned budget of 1,700 billion won.[7]

On September 1, 2010, the South Korean government announced a strategic plan to reduce travel times from Seoul to 95% of the country to under 2 hours by 2020. As part of the plan, the Cheongnyangri–Wonju section of the Jungang Line is to be further upgraded for 230 km/h.[8]

The first 5.7 km to Paldang was opened on December 27, 2007,[5] the next 15.9 km to Guksu on December 29, 2008,[5] and another 19.7 km to Yongmun on December 23, 2009.[9] The total budget of the 90.4&km long upgrade project is 2,036.847 billion won.[9]

The upgrade of the Deokso–Wonju section is more extensive, with significant re-alignments[9] to enable a line speed of 150 km/h.[10][7]

Wonju–Jecheon Electrified Double Track Line Project(원주~제천 복선전철사업) was launched in 2011, connecting Seowonju station at Wonju and Bongyang station at Jecheon. Between Seowonju and Bongyang, the double-track line is to run in a new alignment, most of which will be the 25,080 metre long Musil Tunnel.[6][11] Works on the tunnel are slated to commence in June 2011, for a planned start of service on the Wonju-Jecheon section in January 2021. The new line will reduce line distance by 5.5 km and cut travel time by 20 minutes.[6] The project budget for the entire 41.1 km Wonju-Jecheon section is 1,140.061 billion won.[12] Later, this plan was redesigned to build two tunnels instead of single long tunnel to reduce safety issue. On June 22, 2020, construction was completed and Korean National Railway(KR) started trial running.[13] KR announced that commercial running would be started at January 5.

Plans for the double-tracking of the section from Bongyang, the terminus of the Chungbuk Line, to Jecheon, have been prepared separately.[14]

Under the government's 2010 strategic plan for 2020, the new alignment in the Wonju–Bongyang section would be laid out for 250 km/h, the rest to Jecheon would be upgraded for 230 km/h.[8]

The Jecheon–Dodam section,[15][16] 17.4 km in length, was in construction with a budget of 320.024 billion won for a targeted opening in 2011, and is primarily intended to improve capacity for freight transports to a cement factory.[17] The project is completed on 31 March 2011.

Started at December 2013, Dodam-Andong section is planned to be electrified double-track line. Danyang-Yeongju re-alignment line in single-track opened 13 December 2020, Yeongju-Danchon re-alignment line in single-track opened 17 December 2020. Finally Danyang-Danchon line in double-track railway is planned to open in August 2021.

This section is planned to open Summer 2022 as electrified single-track line. Upgrade to double-track line here is not yet planned.

Electrification and doubling in this section were completed on December 28, 2021.[18]

KTX service was launched on 5 January 2021. Since Jungang Line is not a dedicated high-speed line, the new rolling-stock KTX-Eum was adopted.[19][20] KTX service will be expanded to Bujeon station. And KTX-Eum is expect to connect Cheongnyangni and Bujeon in 3 hours and 6 minutes.[21]

Jungang KTX Route Map

Before the KTX era, trans-Korean Tongil-ho trains were in operation on the Jungang and Donghae Nambu lines, providing a 12-hour train journey from Seoul to Busan.

The entire line is served by cross-country Mugunghwa-ho trains, which are most frequent until Jecheon, where many trains continue east on the Taebaek Line. As of October 2010, the travel time from Cheongnyangni in Seoul is a minimum of 1 hour 18 minutes to Wonju, 2 hours 2 minutes to Jecheon, around 3 hours to Yeongju, 5 hours 22 minutes to Yeongcheon, and 6 hours 8 minutes to Gyeongju. Some trains continue to Bujeon station in Busan, with a total travel time of 8 hours by day and 20 minutes shorter by night.[22]

Commuter rail service was launched on Jungang line (fully integrated with the Seoul Metropolitan Subway) as the upgrading of the line progressed.[10][7] The service started on December 16, 2005, connecting parts of the Gyeongwon Line (from Yongsan to Hoegi Station) and the Jungang line (from Hoegi to Deokso) under the interim name Yongsan–Deokso Line.

An extension to Paldang Station on December 27, 2007, brought the official renaming of the service to Jungang line, although the line actually incorporates parts of both Gyeongwon and Jungang lines. In December 2008, the service was extended to Guksu Station, and an express train service was launched, operating twice a day during morning commuting hours. The express trains ran westward only, from Yangpyeong to Yongsan. The service was finally extended to Yongmun station in Yangpyeong County on December 23, 2009.[9]

The western terminus was Yongsan station ever since the opening of the line. However, with the completion of Gyeongui Line extension to Yongsan on December 27, 2014, both the Jungang and Gyeongui lines were combined into the "Gyeongui-Jungang Line," and trains now run to Munsan station near the North Korean border.[23]