Kenneth R. Oswell
In Korea, a country with an area of about 38,000 square miles and a population of 30 million, 75% of the transportation of goods and people is handled by the Korean National Railroad. Only 15% of the transporta-tion volume is handled by trucks and buses, and the remaining 10% represents services provided by coastal freighters. Thus the railroad plays a vital part in the economic development of the country.
The railroad was severely damaged during the Korean war but has since been substantially rebuilt and re-equipped; external aid from the World Bank and several countries provided the large capita! sums necessary to carry out the modernization program, ft now has more than 30,000 employees and annual revenues in excess of $100 million.
Recently five separate studies were made of the 3,500 miles of railroad track in the 350 mile long South Korean Republic. The assignment was carried out by Touche Ross Canada, combined with the resources of the Cana-dian National Railway and under the auspices of the World Bank. There were seventeen men on the team that traveled to Korea, and the reference material they took with them filled four steamer trunks and weighed almost half a ton.
The team looked at the railroad's information system, traffic costing, uneconomic lines, freight car design and maintenance, and marshalling yard setup.