Korea, China Compete in Rail Deals
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
With the commercialization of the indigenous KTX-II, the world is taking notice of Korea's expertise as an operator and manufacturer of bullet trains with speeds of over 350 kilometers per hour.
It is with this new train that the country's railway industry will seek to impress the organizers of some of the world's most lucrative high-speed railway projects in locations such as Brazil, the U.S., China and other parts of Asia.
But as Korea eyes overseas rail deals, authorities are particularly concerned about challenges from China, the operator of the world's fastest bullet train and one of the world's most eager developers of high-speed rail.
Korea and China are both expected to compete in May to be selected as the contractor for the $17.4 billion high-speed rail project to link the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games to be hosted in Brazil.
Transport Minister Chung Jong-hwan will meet with industry leaders Wednesday to discuss the bid for the Brazil project.
"Compared to France or Japan, Korea has an edge in price competitiveness," said a Korail official. "It is projected that China will be our main competitor in overseas rail deals in the years ahead.
"Chinese technology is almost on par with ours, and they also have a price edge compared to advanced countries like Japan and Europe."
The Chinese Railways Ministry has launched a working group to bid for Brazil's first high speed railway project, according to a Brazilian report.
Other competitors will be Japan, Italy, Germany, France and Spain.
China recently unveiled the Harmony Express, which runs at an average speed of 350 kilometers per hour and covers the distance of 1,100 kilometers between Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong Province, to the central city of Wuhan in less than three hours. The journey previously took 11 hours.
The train has reached a maximum speed of 394 kilometers per hour in test runs.
China will break ground on 70 new railway projects in 2010, including a high-speed train linking Shanghai and Beijing. By the end of 2012, the total length of China's railways is expected to exceed 103,000 kilometers.