SRT Marks 9th Anniversary, Surpasses 205 Million Passengers

This Year’s Daily Average Ridership Reaches 70,000

SR, the operator of the Suseo High-Speed Railway (SRT), announced on December 9 that the cumulative number of passengers has exceeded 205 million as the service marks its ninth anniversary. This milestone was achieved nine years after the initial launch on December 9, 2016.

According to SR, the total distance traveled by passengers on the SRT over the past nine years amounts to 45.5 billion kilometers. This is approximately 48 times the distance the Earth travels in one orbit around the Sun.

SRT entering the platform. SR

By year, the number of passengers started at 1 million in 2016, the first year of operation, and steadily increased to 23.97 million in 2019. The figure dipped to 17.15 million in 2020 and 19.56 million in 2021 due to COVID-19, but rebounded to 26.69 million last year. As of December 8 this year, the cumulative number of passengers stands at 24.33 million.

In terms of daily averages, the number of passengers rose from about 53,000 in 2017, one year after opening, to around 65,000 in 2019, before falling to the 40,000-50,000 range during the pandemic. However, following the lifting of social distancing measures in 2022, ridership recovered, reaching 70,920 per day so far this year.

Shim Youngjoo, Acting CEO of SR, stated, "SRT has been able to run thanks to the love and support of the public over the past nine years," adding, "We will do our utmost to provide safe and convenient high-speed rail service."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.