Busan-Gimhae Airport Light Rail Opens

Posted on 16. Sep, 2011 by Tory Mock Tag: airport, Busan Gimhae Airport, Busan Subway, Getting to the Airport, Gimhae International Airport, Light Rail, transportation

Tired of taking a taxi or the bus out to the airport? Those days are over. Now you can hop aboard the automated light rail straight to the airport as well as 21 other stations from Busan to Gimhae. All for the low price of only 1,500 won.

BUSAN, South Korea -- After 5 ½ years of construction, the Busan-Gimhae light rail opened to the public last week. Starting its route at the Sasang station on subway line two, or the Daejo station on line three in Busan, the light rail runs 23.5 km with the airport being one of its 21 stops on the way to to Gimhae.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place in February of 2006 with the light rail being built by Hyundai Development and POSCO Construction at a cost of $645 million.

Originally slated to open July 29th, the unmanned, automated light rail was postponed due to noise abatement issues. After working that out, the line opened to the general public September 9th with free service until September 17th.

The cars run on an elevated track via Gimhae International Airport ending at Gaya University in Gimhae. The line uses 50 aluminium-bodied Hyundai Rotem metro cars formed as two car sets with capacity for up to 300 passengers and a design capacity of 176,000 passengers per day. The light rail will chug along at about 70 km/h according to line specifications.

Light Rail Fares

Light Rail Stations

Station Number	Station Name English	Station Name Korean	Station Name Japanese	Transfer	Distance in km	Total Distance
1	Sasang	사상	沙上	Line 2	---	0.0
2	Gwaebeop · Renecite	괘법·르네시떼	掛法·르네시떼		0.6	0.6
3	West Busan Logistics Park	서부산유통지구	西釜山流通地區		2.2	2.8
4	Gimhae Internat'l Airport	공항	空港		0.9	3.7
5	Deokdu	덕두	德斗		1.7	5.4
6	Deunggu	등구	登龜		1.7	7.1
7	Daejeo	대저	大渚	Line 3	1.7	7.8
8	Pyeonggang	평강	平江		0.8	8.6
9	Daesa	대사	大沙		1.1	9.7
10	Buram	불암	佛岩		1.0	10.7
11	Jinae	지내	池內		0.5	12.2
12	Andong	안동	安洞		0.7	12.9
13	Hwalcheon	활천	活川		1.8	14.7
14	Gimhae City Hall	김해시청	金海市廳		1.1	15.8
15	Buwon	부원	府院		0.5	17.3
16	Bonghwang	봉황	鳳凰		0.8	18.1
17	Royal Tomb of King Suro	수로왕릉	首露王陵		0.5	18.6
18	Gimhae National Museum	박물관	博物館		0.6	20.2
19	Yeonji Park	연지공원	蓮池公園		1.0	21.2
20	Hwajeong	화정	花停		1.5	22.7
21	Samgye	삼계	三溪		0.7	23.4

For Busan subway map go here.
For more maps of Busan, including hot spots and tourism sites, check out Haps Maps here.
You can also check out Haps transportation page here.

Lead photo courtesty of Jens-Olaf via Flick r.