The ministry of Construction and Transportation announced Monday that the nation's first high-speed railway service is scheduled to open operations to the general public on April 1st.

The Korea Train Express (KTX) will connect Seoul with the major cities of Busan, in the southeast, and Mokpo, in the southwest of the country. It has been completed after 12 years of construction, and will run at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

The Seoul-Busan journey will take 2 hours and 40 minutes and cost 49,900 won (US$42.10), while the Seoul-Mokpo route will take nearly 3 hours and cost 42,900 won ($36.10). Other stop-over cities on the routes will include Daejon, Daegu and Gwangju.

Regular commuters will receive a discount of 40 percent on weekdays and advance reservations will receive a discount of 7-20 percent.

The trains will depart every 15-20 minutes on the Gyeongbu line (Seoul-Busan) and every 40 minutes on the Honam line (Seoul-Mokpo).

Passengers will be able to take the trains in Seoul at either Seoul or Yongsan stations.