Line A will be 83.1km long and the 43.6km northern section will run from Unjeong northwest of Seoul via Kintex, Yeonsinnae and Seoul Station to Samseong. A 6km section is already under construction by Korea Rail Network Authority from Samseong to Suseo where it connects with the existing high-speed line serving Seongnam, Yongin and Dongtan, which will also be used by GTX services.
Trains will operate at a maximum speed of 180km/h and a commercial speed of 100km/h, which will cut journey times by between 70 and 80%. For example, it currently takes 1h 20min to travel from Kintex to Samseong, whereas with GTX it will take just 20 minutes.
A consortium led by Shinhan Bank and including high-speed operator Supreme Railways was selected in April as preferred bidder to build the Won 3.64 trillion ($US 3.25bn) northern section. It is planned to open Line A in 2023.
Two more GTX lines are planned: Line B from Songdo to Cheongnyangni, and Line C from Uijeongbu to Geumjeong.
