President Moon Jae-in on Monday took a trial ride on a new bullet train designed to cut carbon emissions in his first economy-related activity of the new year.

On board the train called the KTX-Eum(EMU-260), Moon pledged to replace all passenger trains running on diesel with the low-carbon, eco-friendly bullet train by 2029.

Introducing his vision on rail reform, the president said this year will mark the beginning of the locomotive's distribution and vowed efforts to support the country's advance into overseas rail markets based on its technological prowess.

He said South Korea will become a powerhouse in transport infrastructure and pursue innovation in the field through safe and smart features.

Moon said the new bullet train is a combination of the Digital New Deal and Green New Deal projects and stressed that the Korean New Deal will spur the country to swiftly achieve carbon neutrality.

The president also vowed to seek balanced national development through rail network expansion that will involve a 70 trillion won investment through 2025 so that all major cities nationwide can be connected within three hours.