SEOUL: South Korea is set to launch a high-speed train service, a project that officials hope will encourage youth to consider living outside the cities, and start having babies.
South Korea is the country with world’s lowest fertility rate, and its youth have often cited long distances, expensive residence in Seoul, as the main reasons for not getting married and beginning a family.
The birth rate in Seoul is even less than the national average, and the government has tried to enhance the number of newborns through subsidies.
Officials are now hoping that the Great Train eXpress or GTX, a $99.5 billion underground speed train will provide six lines connecting Seoul to several other areas by 2035.
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday inaugurated a section of the first line, which will reduce the traveling time from Seoul to Dongtan to 19 minutes from 80 minutes.
He added that the shorter time to commute will help people to spend more time with their families.
The line is expected to come into service on Saturday, and once fully operational, the GTX will be one of the fastest underground systems in the world.
Land Minister Park Sang-woo said the GTX would help young people to consider homes far away from Seoul without spending hours in traveling.
According to some analysts, the GTX could affect the rural life of South Korea by bringing more people into the already overcrowded urban areas.
Kim Jin-yoo, professor of Urban Planning & Transportation Engineering at Kyonggi University believed that to revive regional towns facing extinction, the most important thing is to equip other areas with a similar kind of public infrastructure.
