470 km route crosses the country diagonally taking in Chonan, Taejon, Taegu, and Kyongju enroute to Pusan with maximum design speed of 350 km/h and time between terminii of 2 hours. Capacity 520,000 pax/day, serving 60% of the country’s population and 70% of its industry. About one third of alignment is in tunnel. Test section between Chonan and Taejon with two 146m2 tunnels totalling 5.5 km completed in 1996 by Daewoo on $150 million contract. Horseshoe cross-section with 15.4 m width and 11.0 m high using drill/blast with NATM support in granite and gneiss of variable quality. March 1999.
