After High-Speed Rail Integration, Daily Ridership Hits 320,000, Up 12.6% YoY

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korail Announce Results Two Months After High-Speed Rail Integration

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Railroad Corporation said on the 5th that, in the two months since high-speed rail services were integrated, average daily ridership reached 322,000, up 12.6% (36,000 passengers) from the same period last year. The year-on-year increase was 11.9% in September, the first month after integration, and edged up to 13.3% last month.

On the Suseo corridor, where train frequency and seat capacity increased, average daily ridership reached 90,000, up 29.5% from the same period last year. With transfer discounts between high-speed and conventional rail expanded, the average number of transfer passengers also rose 54.4%, from 6,100 before integration to 9,441 afterward.

To make train reservations more convenient, the organizations plan to introduce features by the end of this year that allow passengers to check the expected refund amount before canceling and make reservations more easily. They are also gathering feedback from outside experts through a committee on improvements to the user interface and user experience (UI/UX). Last month, they addressed major sources of inconvenience, including settings for train types and adjacent stations not being retained and the lack of a round-trip booking feature. They will analyze the causes of the widespread access delays during this year's Chuseok holiday booking period and strengthen preventive measures, including system stability checks and performance improvements, to ensure stable bookings even during periods of heavy traffic. They will also enhance features to detect and block fraudulent reservations made using macros and other tools.

A coupled train is stopped at a platform at Seoul Station on Sept. 1, the first day of integrated KTX and SRT operations. Yonhap News

Passengers received benefits worth around 51.5 billion won through fare discounts and mileage programs during the two months after integration. Public discounts for children, teenagers, senior citizens and pregnant women have been extended to SRT routes, while transfer discounts between high-speed and conventional rail have been unified to increase benefits. Older facilities have also been improved, including through renovations to the restrooms on KTX-1 trains, and cleaning staff have been added.

The organizations inspected potential risks across facilities and operations, including those involving rolling stock, and took steps to address them. A comprehensive emergency response drill was held at Pyeongtaek-Jije Station on October 28 to assess the response systems of relevant agencies. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that a labor-management-government consultative body, involving Korail's labor and management and experts, will continue operating after integration to discuss key issues and monitor follow-up measures.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Jiseon said, "The benefits of integration are beginning to emerge: more than 320,000 people now use high-speed trains each day, and the burden of transportation costs is decreasing. We will carefully address even minor problems on the ground, including booking inconveniences, and do our utmost to ensure that the benefits of integration reach everyone while making safety our top priority." Korail President Kim Taeseung said, "We will repay the public with thorough safety measures and service so that a unified high-speed rail system can contribute to balanced national development as a fast, safe and convenient nationwide transport network."

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