Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
LS Cable develops rigid bar for high-speed railways
By Nam Hyun-woo
LS Cable & System has developed an aluminum bar-type overhead system for high-speed railways, the wire and cable firms said Thursday.
The overhead power supply system, called the rigid bar, is made of an aluminum alloy structure. Since it is installed on the ceiling or walls of tunnels, it does not require additional structures to support the wire system thus reducing railway tunnels' construction costs by up to 15 percent.
LS Cable & System said a rigid bar system will be more efficient for Korea's GTX train network, which links Seoul and its dormitory towns, because 99 percent of its lines pass through tunnels.
The company said it is the world's second company to develop a rigid bar system for high-speed railways, and this will allow Korea to localize such power supply systems for its high-speed railways.
Korea localized the rigid bar system for subway lines in 2013 by using LS Cable & System products, but not for high-speed railways, on which trains travel at up to 250 kilometers per hour. Korea has been using Swiss products so far.
“After commercializing the technology in the domestic market, we will make efforts to enter the overseas market, as global demand for a bar-type overhead systems is growing,” an LS Cable official said.