SEOUL, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The opening ceremony for South Korean first-ever high speed rail was held on Tuesday in Seoul to mark commercial operation of the rail.

    South Korean Prime Minister Goh Kun, officials of the Korean National Railroad (KORAIL) and some 1,800 people attended the ceremony at Seoul Station plaza.

    "The opening of the high-speed train will make a great contribution to the country's balanced regional development," a major policy goal of the incumbent administration, Goh said at theceremony.

    He said the train service will help regional cities turn into new hubs for the nation's development.

    "The high-speed train is a symbol of national completeness and is the basis for the prosperity that we will create in the 21st century," Goh said. "We will experience various benefits the high-speed train will produce in our lifestyle and industry."

    After the ceremony to launch the service of Korea Train Express(KTX), those invited people and ordinary citizens took a test-rideto Daemon, in the central part of the country.

    Commercial operations of the KTX will begin from Thursday.

    The total length of the Gyeongbu High Speed Rail from Seoul to South Korean second largest city Busan is 412 kilometers.

    Tuesday's ceremony marked official operation of the first part of the high speed rail line which runs through from Seoul to Daegu,some 300 kilometers southeast to Seoul.

    While the speed trains will run on conventional tracks from Daegu to Busan before the second phase construction of the high speed rails completed in 2008.

    With the first part of the line opens, the Seoul-Busan journey will take 2 hours and 40 minutes, one and a half hours less than that for the Saemaeul express train, the fastest train currently serving the route.

    The KTX will reach speeds of 300 kilometers per-hour at most onthe high speed rails.

    South Korea started the construction of high speed rails from 1992. And 13 companies such as ALSTOM Transport from France and South Korean based EU KORAIL, Samsung SDS have attended the project which cost 17 billion US dollars, according to reporting materials of KORAIL.

    With the launch of the first section of the high speed rails, it is expected to absorb 40 percent and 60 percent from express buses and airlines respectively, said the materials. Enditem