Korea's National Railway Authority Opens Osong Test Track Extension to Support LA Metro Project

On July 7, the Korea National Railway Authority (NRRA) opened a 5 km extension of the Osong Railway Test Track ahead of schedule. The new section allows test runs at up to 120 km/h, overcoming previous speed limits of 80 km/h on the largely curved original line.

The early opening supports the US Los Angeles Metro mid‑rail upgrade contract worth about 1.2 trillion won, awarded to Hyundai Rotem and Woojin Sanjeon. The extension enables domestic performance verification of the first set of vehicles, which will complete roughly 3,000 miles of testing by November 2026 before being shipped to the United States in December 2026, helping keep the 2028 LA Summer Olympics transport plan on track. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Railroad Research Institute and other agencies coordinated the accelerated rollout.