- KRRI becomes Korea’s first accredited testing agency for Korean Train Control System (KTCS)-

UIWANG, South Korea – June 26 – The Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI, President Sagong Myung) has been recognized as Korea’s first accredited testing agency in Korea for the Korea Train Control System (KTCS) field by the Korean Accreditation System (KOLAS) under the Korean Agency for Technology and Standardsof the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

※ KTCS (Korea Train Control System): A Korean train control system based on European standard train control system (ETCS) technology. KTCS-2, which uses LTE-R, began with the Gyeongbu High Speed Line, is scheduled to be expanded and constructed nationwide by 2032.

Previously, there were no domestic accredited institutions capable of conducting KTCS testing, so companies in the railway signaling field had to rely on overseas ETCS accredited institutions, which caused many difficulties. While overseas testing typically took about one year on average, KRRI’s recognition as an accredited testing agency is expected to reduce this to about 8-9 months, resulting in an expected 25% reduction in the total time required.

※ KTCS is subject to mandatory conformity assessment through accredited testing and accredited inspection institutions in accordance with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport's “Act on the Construction and Maintenance of Railway Facilities” and “Technical Standards for Railway Facilities for Interoperability Between Railway Lines.” KRRI was already recognized as an accredited inspection agency in November 2024 and was also recognized as an accredited testing agency in June 2025.

With KRRI becoming Korea’s first domestic accredited testing agency for KTCS, both accredited testing and accredited inspection of train control systems can now be conducted domestically, and the results can be mutually recognized internationally.

KTCS certification testing is conducted in accordance with the requirements specified in the KTCS standard (KRS SG 0070 – 22), verifying through testing whether KTCS components such as on-board computers and wireless blocking centers comply with the requirements.

The KRRI plans to provide both certified testing and inspection services for KTCS components to KTCS contracting agencies and manufacturing companies.

Shin Kyung-ho, head of the Railroad Test, Inspection &Certification Division, who served as a principal researcher, said, “In order to effectively support the KTCS-2 construction project starting in 2025, we will further strengthen our certified testing and inspection evaluation capabilities and strive to complete a KTCS conformity assessment one-stop service that enables testing, inspection and certification all at once.”

President Sagong Myung of KRRI said, “As railway technology becomes more digitalized and domestic technology becomes more advanced, the scope and technical level of domestic testing and evaluation are increasing,” adding, “We will do our best to advance the accredited testing system for international standards and new technologies in order to support the government’s railway policy, secure the global competitiveness of the domestic railway industry, and assist in overseas expansion.”

[Reference]
KRRI has been conducting the project titled “Development of Technology for Interoperability Evaluation of KTCS-2 Level Train Control Systems※” since 2021 as part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s national R&D program to establish a domestic KTCS testing and evaluation system and support the expanded commercialization of domestic train control technology.

※ Project title: Development of Technology for Interoperability Evaluation of KTCS-2 Level Train Control Systems
Research period and budget: April 2021 to March 2025 (total 4 years), KRW 8.746 billion
Principal researcher: Shin Seong-ho Shin, Director (Railroad Accredited Test &Certification Department of the Railroad Test, Inspection & Certification Division, KRRI)
Lead Ministry: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport
Expert institution: Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement





Press Contacts

Sunghyun Baek
Korea Railroad Research Institute
baeksh@krri.re.kr
+82 31 460 5162