On August 18, the 8-meter-class open-type hard-rock TBM “CREC R469,” developed by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group, a subsidiary of China Railway Hi-Tech Industry under CREC, successfully rolled off the production line in Zhengzhou. The machine will undertake the tunneling of an 8.6-kilometer-long section under Contract Section 2 of South Korea’s Chuncheon–Sokcho High-Speed Railway.
This marks the first time that Chinese hard-rock tunneling equipment has entered the South Korean market. In addition to the TBM main machine, China Railway Engineering Equipment Group will also provide supporting tunnel construction equipment, including vertical belt conveyors, continuous belt conveyors, and MSVs (Multi-Service Vehicles), delivering a “one-stop” solution.
The “CREC R469” has an excavation diameter of 8.23 meters and an overall length of 130 meters, and is capable of operating in hard-rock formations with compressive strengths of up to 140 MPa. In response to the complex geological conditions involving surrounding-rock Classes III to V, the development team integrated a combined support system of “steel arches + rock bolts + shotcrete” within a limited space and equipped the machine with safety facilities such as an emergency generator and refuge chamber, enabling simultaneous tunneling and ground-support operations.
The Chuncheon–Sokcho High-Speed Railway has a total length of 93.7 kilometers and a designed operating speed of 260 kilometers per hour. It is a key project in the development of South Korea’s national railway network. Upon completion, the travel time between Seoul and Sokcho will be reduced from nearly three hours to one hour and 39 minutes.
