The government has celebrated the opening of a new high-speed train line commuting between Seoul and Gangwon Province.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon attended the dedication ceremony for the KTX Gyeonggang line at the line’s easternmost destination, Gangneung, at 2 p.m. along with the officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Tourism.

Set to begin its operation on Friday, the line takes customers from Seoul to several Gangwon areas using the newly built bullet train railway between Wonju and Gangneung. The existing high-speed railways between Seoul and Wonju are used in conjunction with the new railway.

The new train line cuts the traveling time between Seoul and Gangneung from more than five hours to a mere 86 minutes, with the venues of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be reached even faster.

An official of the Land Ministry said more than 20 percent of the tickets have been already sold since the beginning of the reservation services on November 30th.