Korail, the national rail company of South Korea has taken the delivery of the first High Speed electrical multiple unit with distributed traction. Each six car train set is 150 m long and 3,150 mm wide. Each coach can accommodate 381 passengers. These trains have been built by Hyundai Rotem and are called the EMU-250 indicating its maximum speed.

19 such trains will be delivered ultimately. These trains are based on Hyundai Rotem’s HEMU-430x ultra-high speed train prototype unveiled in 2012. Though the top speed of the train is 250 km/h they will be run on the newly upgraded 200 km/h Gyeongjeon, Seohae and Jungang lines. These lines have several stations and hence the main requirement for these trains is quick acceleration and deceleration and not top speed.

Based on the public feedback received by Hyundai-Rotem, the EMU-250 has more legroom, with wider armrests, seats aligned with the windows and USB and wireless charging points.

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