A new project to develop technologies for next-generation railroad systems has been launched.

Under the project, the Korea Railroad Research Institute and the Korea Institute of Construction and Technology Evaluation Planning will develop key technologies for high-speed railroad systems.

They will be joined by some 30 domestic firms, who will take part in the project over the next six years.

Once the project ends in 2013, the nation is expected to reap more than six trillion won in profits by meeting the demand for new high-speed trains which are estimated to number some 16-hundred after 2015.