KTX

I am still staying with my parents in Busan. But I have to go to Seoul pretty often to look for a place (I just got one! But still need lots of paper work) or to see my partners. From Busan to Seoul is about 328km, almost the same distance between Washington D.C. and New York City. It takes 45 minutes by flight. But these days KTX is more popular than the airplanes because the fare in about 50% cheaper and the train station is in the city with better accessibility. And I also no longer take airplane but take KTX now.

KTX (Korean Train eXpress) is high speed rail system in Korea, similar as TGV in France or Shinkansen in Japan. The top speed can be 305-350Km/H. Including about 2-3 stops in between Busan-which is almost far southern part of Korea- and Busan, it takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes. And in a very near future, the travel time will be reduced to 90 minutes with new faster trains. If I think about the time to travel to airport and to wait in airport, the total travel time between airplane and KTX are about the same. But since the KTX fare is only about $30 (with 15%-30% discount membership program called "Business Card" that is $75) one way compared to $80 for flight, these days I totally prefer to travel by KTX.

Another great thing to travel by KTX is, I can enjoy beautiful sceneries of Korea which I became to appreciate very much.

Inside of KTX train compartment

Another fun thing not to miss on KTX is a snack cart.

Scenery seen from the train window.