South Korea has unveiled a high-speed train able to cross the country within two hours. EMU-370 will average speeds of roughly 229mph, and is the result of a research project worth just over £11million.

The first EMU-370 models will begin production next year and are expected to hit the tracks by 2031. The trains will slash travel times between the capital Seoul and Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, from two hours 30 minutes to one hour and 53 minutes. The South Korean government invested 18billion won into the train’s development at the Korea Railroad Research Institute, with a further 4.5billion won invested by private firms.

The EMU-370 would rank second globally in operating speed, just behind China’s CR450, which will launch in 2027 and boasts daily speeds of almost 250mph. The Chinese CR Harmony is currently the world’s fastest train, with an operating speed of 217mph, which critics suggest is due to pirated Japanese technology.

The EMU-370 will seat 479 passengers and offer 560 kilowatts of motor power – the same as 75 sedans.

South Korea has no plans to stop its in-house development of high-speed rail technology. Head of the ministry’s Railway Bureau Yoon Jin-hwan said: “We will begin developing key technologies for the country’s third-generation high-speed trains capable of 400 kph next year.”