T Express | |
---|---|
Everland | |
Location | Everland |
Park section | European Adventure |
Coordinates | 37°17′24″N 127°12′09″E / 37.2900°N 127.2025°E |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | March 14, 2008 |
General statistics | |
Type | Wood |
Manufacturer | Intamin |
Designer | Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH |
Model | Wooden Coaster (Prefabricated Track) |
Track layout | Terrain / Twister |
Lift/launch system | Cable lift |
Height | 56.02 m (183.8 ft) |
Drop | 45.99 m (150.9 ft) |
Length | 1,641 m (5,384 ft) |
Speed | 103.9 km/h (64.6 mph) |
Max vertical angle | 77° |
Capacity | 1,500 riders per hour |
Trains | 3 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows for a total of 36 riders per train. |
T Express at RCDB |
T Express (Korean: 티 익스프레스) is a wooden roller coaster at the Everland theme park in Yongin, South Korea. T Express opened on March 14, 2008, in the European Adventure section of the park, and is themed after a small town in the Alps. The coaster was constructed by Intamin, a Swiss manufacturing company, and designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH, a German roller coaster design facility. In April 2024, parts of its track underwent a steel retracking.
Within its first six months of operation, it had over a million riders. The ride holds a number of past and current records. It is South Korea's first-ever wooden roller coaster and is also the longest and second-fastest of any roller coaster in the country. As of 2023[update], it is tied (with Wildfire) for the world's tallest wooden roller coaster, and is also the longest, tallest, fastest, and steepest wooden coaster in Asia.
History
[edit]Everland conducted market research and decided to construct a wooden coaster.[1] After developing the concept and plans for three years,[1] and with a budget of 28 billion South Korean won,[1] the park began construction on the ride around February 2007.[2]
It was constructed by Intamin, a Swiss manufacturing company, and designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH, a German roller coaster design company.[3] Everland first announced the ride in a March 12, 2008 press release, which stated that that the ride would help the park "compete with other theme parks such as Universal Studios".[4] The ride opened on March 14, 2008.[5] The roller coaster replaced a snow slope attraction that was previously in the area that T Express was in.[1]
T Express was closed for around 5 months prior to a reopening in April 2024 to undergo a steel retracking dubbed "The Iron Rebirth" by Everland officials. About 380 meters of track, including the initial drop, were retracked using steel tracks.[6]
Records
[edit]T Express is the first wooden roller coaster in South Korea.[7][8] At time of opening, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the country, until it was superseded by Draken at Gyeongju World in 2018.[9][10] However, it is still the longest and third fastest in the country.[11][12]
In Asia, it is the third wooden roller coaster.[7][8] As of 2023[update], among wooden roller coasters in Asia, it is the longest,[13] tallest,[14] fastest,[15] and steepest,[16] and also has the largest drop.[17] Among the world's wooden roller coasters, it is the tallest (tied with Wildfire in Sweden),[18] third longest,[19][20] and tenth fastest as of 2023[update].[9][12][21]
Characteristics
[edit]T Express is named after T World, the SK Telecom-owned Korean phone company that sponsored the ride's construction.[3][22]
The ride is located in the European Adventure section of Everland, which is based on a European aesthetic.[23][24] It is themed as a scenic railway in an Alpine village;[25] the area around it was further decorated before the ride's opening.[25] The ride closes its operations in the winter and reopens in the spring.[26][27]
It is 56.02 metres (183.8 ft) tall,[18] and has 1,641 m (5,384 ft) of prefabricated tracks that are made of nine layers of compressed and laminated Finnish fir wood.[4][19][28] The total materials used to create the ride include 670 tons and 45,000 blocks of wood, as well as 50,000 bolts.[4][29][30]
It has three trains made of steel and fiberglass. Each train can seat 36, as they each have six cars that have three rows of two seats.[3] Per hour of operation, the ride seats 1,500 people.[31] Riders experience airtime twelve times throughout the ride, with the largest drop being 45.99 m (150.9 ft).[2][22] The ride has a top speed of 103.9 km/h (64.6 mph).[9][21][12]
Ride experience
[edit]When the train leaves the station, it climbs up a 56.02 m (183.8 ft) lift hill using a cable lift system, then curves to the right.[7] It then drops to the ground at a 77-degree angle. It then goes back up to a 46 m (151 ft) tall hill and then drops into an intense right-hand turn drop. It then transitions into a left-hand turn and then climbs into a 28 m (92 ft) mid-course brake run, and then drops again. It then goes into an airtime hill, turns right, then climbs a larger airtime hill. It then turns right, going into two back-to-back airtime hills. It then turns left, climbs an airtime hill, and then turns right. It then goes into 2 further back-to-back airtime hills, turns left, two more airtime hills, a slight left-hand turn, an airtime hill, a left-hand turn, and into the final brake run. It runs for about 3 minutes, including the lift hill.[32][33]
Incidents
[edit]In 2018, a group of 6 visitors, including 3 visually impaired people, were prevented from riding the roller coaster because park employees were concerned it would be less safe for them.[34] The visitors filed a disability discrimination lawsuit and won the case. The judge stated that there was no evidence or statistics to demonstrate that blind people were in more danger on the rides.[35]
Reception
[edit]The ride caused more people to visit Everland. According to a 2009 press release, the number of teenagers who visited the park increased by 73% and the number of college students by 14%. That same press release noted that three out of ten visitors to Everland rode T Express.[36]
It had more than one million total riders within six months, more than 1,758,800 within its first year,[36] around 3,000,000 within two years,[37] and close to 5,000,000 by 2011.[38] In 2010, it was reported that an average of 4,500 people rode the roller coaster each day.[37]
Awards
[edit]Year | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking | 46[39] | 36[40] | 39[41] | 46 (tie)[42] | 41 (tie)[43] | 47[44] | 44[45] | 45[46] | 37[47] | 50[48] | 39[49] | 38[50] | 44[51] |
Metaverse ride
[edit]In June 2022, T Express, as well as the rest of Everland, opened in the metaverse.[52] The ride and park are based in PlayDapp Land, a Roblox-based metaverse blockchain platform. Everland and PlayDapp announced in 2022 that it would also open NFT services.[53] The metaverse version of Everland was designed to make users interact with the system instead of simply looking at the virtual theme park.[54]
References
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- ^ a b c 김, 광호 (March 12, 2008). "에버랜드에 '나무로 만든 롤러코스터' 탄생" [Wooden rollercoaster opens at Everland]. Naver (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
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- ^ 김, 성환 (April 9, 2024). "진화하는 롤러코스터" [Evolving Rollercoasters]. Asia Today. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Everland's T-Express makes a comeback to thrill riders again". Samsung C&T Newsroom. February 24, 2021. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ a b Yoo, Jae-hyung (May 2, 2022). "전나무 프레임을 타고 오르는 180초의 전율...에버랜드 우든 롤러코스터 T-express" [The thrill of climbing for 180 seconds on a fir tree frame... Everland's wooden roller coaster T-Express]. Wood Planet (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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- ^ a b 오, 승완 (March 13, 2008). "낙하각도 77도의 아찔함" [77 degrees of thrill]. Naver (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
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- ^ a b 손, 원천 (March 13, 2008). "에버랜드 '티 익스프레스' 체험" [Trying out "T Express" at Everland]. Seoul Shinmun (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ 최, 수문 (February 13, 2023). "'겨울잠 마친' 에버랜드, 티익스프레스 재가동" [T Express operates after winter hiatus]. 서울경제 (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
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- ^ Manager, Samsung C&T Global PR (February 24, 2021). "Everland's T-Express makes a comeback to thrill riders again". Samsung C&T Newsroom. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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- ^ 남종영 (March 12, 2008). "시속104km, 높이56m 으으으윽... 나무 위의 공포!" [104km per hour, 56m in height... ughhhh... terror in the trees!]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ^ 1열에선 바로 이런 느낌! T-Express 리얼 탑승 영상 [T Express first person POV] (Video link). Everland. February 20, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ 김, 혜미 (October 11, 2018). "법원 "위험을 이유로 시각장애인 놀이기구 탑승 막는 것은 '장애인 차별'"" [Court rules it is discriminatory to bar visually impaired people from rollercoaster due to "safety concerns"]. 비마이너 (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
- ^ 이, 혜리 (October 11, 2018). "'티익스프레스' 시각장애인 금지한 에버랜드···법원 "차별 맞다, 손해배상하라"" [Everland prevented a visually impaired person from riding T Express... court states it is discrimination]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
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- ^ 이, 성우 (July 9, 2022). "메타버스로 만나는 에버랜드와 롯데월드..."공간 경험의 확장 노린다"" [Everland and Lotte World's opening in Metaverse set to improve visitor experience]. 테크M (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
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External links
[edit]- Media related to T Express at Wikimedia Commons
- T Express official Homepage (Korean)