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Wolmi Sea Train

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Wolmi Eunha station

The Wolmi Sea Train (월미바다열차), formerly known as Wolmi Galaxy Rail, is a monorail on the island of Wolmido in Incheon, South Korea. The monorail line has 4 stations and covers 6.1 km connecting Wolmido Island to Incheon Station, the west terminus of Seoul Subway Line 1 and the Suin Line.[1] 1.15 km is double-tracked, but the loop around Wolmido (3.94 km) is single-track. Phase 2, if built, would have added 2 km single track connecting to Dong-Incheon station, also on Metro Line 1, with a potential Phase 3 looping back to Incheon station.[1] The system is the first in the world to use Urbanaut technology, whose selling point is an inverse T-shaped track: large wheels run on the horizontal part of the track, while small wheels press against the rail and keep it in place.[2][3]

The project was started in 2007, where it was originally designed to be a major monorail carrying 70 passengers. The line was scheduled to open in March 2010,[4] but opening was repeatedly postponed.[5] The project has a poor safety record. In April 2010, a test vehicle collided with a rail inspection vehicle, causing it to crash into a station, parts of which collapsed onto the street below. In August 2010, a wheel falling from the vehicle on a test run injured a pedestrian.[6] In May 2012, a current collector fell off the train, although there were no injuries.[7] In 2011, Joongang Daily reported that construction had been indefinitely suspended due to "colossal corruption",[8] and that what had been built was set to be demolished due to "safety issues".[9] It was reported the system was not built to the specifications of the Urbanaut.[10] A technical inspection in May 2013 revealed numerous unresolved safety issues.[11] In August 2014, it was announced that the monorail was unsafe and the project would be abandoned.[12]

The cost of the entire system, originally estimated at US$60 million,[13] had risen to 110 billion South Korean won (approx. US$100 million) before construction was suspended. A revised plan in 2015 cut the size of the trains to carrying 24 passengers. Construction based on the revised plan began in February 2015 aimed to complete in Fall 2016.[14] It was eventually opened on October 8, 2019.[15]

List of stations

[edit]
Route Station Name
English 		Station Name
Hangul 		Station Name
Hanja 		Transfer Distance
km 		Total Distance Location
● Wolmi Sea 월미바다 月尾海 ( Suin–Bundang Line via Incheon) Incheon Jung-gu
● Wolmi Park 월미공원 月尾公園
↓ ↖
● ↖ Wolmi Culture Street 월미문화의거리 月尾文化街
↘ ● ↗ The Museum of Korea Emigration History 박물관 博物館

References

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  1. ^ a b "도심관광은 전차를 타고..." 기호일보. August 22, 2007.
  2. ^ "WOLMIDO URBANAUT MONORAIL".
  3. ^ "Wolmi Sea Train monorail finally opens".
  4. ^ "예비 명물 '월미은하레일' 시험대". 현대일보. August 12, 2009.
  5. ^ "개통 앞둔 월미은하레일 '시운전'" (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  6. ^ "Wolmido Monorail, Incheon".
  7. ^ "3차례 개통연기 '월미은하레일' 또 사고… 시험운행중 지상 10m 높이서 전력공급장치 떨어져나가". 9 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Go after tax wasters". Korea JoongAng Daily. 16 May 2011.
  9. ^ "[Viewpoint] What happened to Korean frugality?". Korea JoongAng Daily. 22 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Wolmido Monorail, South Korea - Page 1 of 2". www.monorails.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  11. ^ "월미은하레일 안전용역 "지금 상태 운행 불가"" (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  12. ^ "Zigzag monorail won't operate". The Hankyoreh.
  13. ^ "Incheon Construction 01/10/04". www.monorails.org.
  14. ^ "853억 고철덩어리 월미은하레일, 다시 달린다". YTN. February 4, 2015.
  15. ^ Korea Herald (2019-10-08). "Wolmi Sea Train kicks off". Retrieved 2019-10-10.

See also

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