 | |
 Headquarters of Korea Railroad Corporation | |
| Company type | Government-owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Predecessor | Korean National Railroad |
| Founded | 1 September 1963; 62 years ago (1963-09-01) (as Korean National Railroad) 1 January 2005; 21 years ago (2005-01-01) (renamed as Korail) |
| Headquarters | Soje-dong,Dong-gu,Daejeon,South Korea |
| Revenue | |
 ₩ 4743.1 hundred million(2023)[2] | |
| ₩ 5424.7 hundred million(2023)[2] | |
Number of employees |
|
| Parent | Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport  |
| Subsidiaries | SR Corporation |
| Website | info.korail.comletskorail.com |
| Korea Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Operation | |
| Infrastructure company | KR |
| Statistics | |
| Ridership | 969,145,101[4] |
| Passenger km | 31,415,965,207[4] |
| Freight | 10,553,675,728 ton km[4] |
| System length | |
| Total | 4,128.6 km (2,565.4 mi) |
| Double track | 2,706.5 km (1,681.7 mi) |
| Electrified | 3,043.0 km (1,890.8 mi) |
| High-speed | 1,264.7 km (785.8 mi) |
| Track gauge | |
| Main | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| High-speed | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| Electrification | |
| AC 25,000 V 60 Hz | 3,023.8 km (1,878.9 mi) |
| DC 1,500 V | 19.2 km (11.9 mi) |
| Features | |
| No. stations | 691 |
| Highest elevation | 855 m (2,805 ft) |
| at | 37°12′0″N128°56′59.83″E / 37.20000°N 128.9499528°E /37.20000; 128.9499528 |
| Korea Railroad Corporation | |
| Hangul | 한국철도공사 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 韓國鐵道公社 |
| RR | Hanguk cheoldo gongsa |
| MR | Han'guk ch'ŏlto kongsa |
TheKorea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사;Hanja: 韓國鐵道公社) is the national railway operator inSouth Korea. It is branded asKORAIL (코레일) and changed its official Korean name (한국철도;韓國鐵道) in November 2019.[5] Currently, KORAIL is agovernment-owned corporation, managed byMinistry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation.
KORAIL operates intercity/regional, commuter/metro and freight trains throughout South Korea, and has its headquarters inDaejeon.
Historically, the South Korean railway network was managed by theRailroad Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation before 1963. On 1 September 1963, the bureau became an agency that was known asKorean National Railroad (KNR) in English. In the early 2000s, the split and public corporatization of KNR was decided by the South Korean government, and in 2003, KNR adopted the current KORAIL logo in blue to prepare for corporatization. On 1 January 2005, KNR was split intoKorea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), which succeeded railway operation with the KORAIL logo and name, andKorea National Railway (KR), which succeeded in railway construction and maintaining tracks.
Fares are set according to distance.
KORAIL has posted losses every year for the last decade, with the exception of 2015.
In 2021 alone, the deficit was 1.1081 trillion won.
As of the end of 2021, the cumulative deficit is 18.66 trillion won.
Rail fares have been frozen since they were raised by 4.9% in 2011.
In the 2021 public institution management evaluation, KORAIL was given the lowest grade of E (extremely unsatisfactory).[6]
Excluding the other high-speed service provider, SR, South Korean high-speed and intercity services are provided by KORAIL. Currently, KORAIL provides 5 classes of railway and metro services.
KTX (Korea Train eXpress) is currently the highest class of KORAIL services. KTX services are provided on theGyeongbu HSR andHonam HSR, as well as their branches such asGyeongjeon Line,Donghae Line, orJeolla Line.
ITX (Intercity Train eXpress) are a group of intercity services. The first ITX service was introduced in 2012, which was namedITX-Cheongchun (ITX-청춘) onGyeongchun Line.
Before the introduction of ITX services, intercity trains were namedSaemaul-ho (새마을호), which borrowed its name from theNew Community Movement. Later, Saemaul-ho services are merged into ITX asITX-Saemaeul (ITX-새마을). Currently, the remaining Saemaul-ho services are only operated onJanghang Line.
In late 2023, another new ITX train equivalent to ITX-Saemaeul was introduced and namedITX-Maum.
Mugunghwa-ho (무궁화호) and its planned successorNuriro (누리로) services are regional train services of KORAIL. Mugunghwa-ho, inspired by its name from the national floral emblemhibiscus, was introduced as express service at first, but after the introduction of KTX, it was degraded into regional services.
Currently, Nuriro services are provided by only EMU trains (class 20). KORAIL has a plan of introducing Nuriro with the newly ordered EMU-150.
Named as metro services (전동열차), these services are provided in theSeoul Metropolitan Area and theBusan Metropolitan Area. Sometimes it is considered as a successor of Bidulgi-ho (비둘기호) class trains. Officially, the fare systems of these services are separate from other services operated by Korail; such services are integrated with subway fare systems, allowing free transfers between Korail-operated lines and local metro lines.
Line 1 is a large service corridor consisting of the following Korail lines thatthrough operate to and fromSeoul MetroLine 1
Line 3
Line 4 is a long service corridor consisting of the following Korail lines thatthrough operate to and fromSeoul MetroLine 4
a large service corridor consisting of the following lines:
— (Seoul–Chuncheon)
a large service corridor consisting of the following lines:
Gyeonggang Line — (Pangyo–Yeoju)
Donghae Line — (Bujeon–Taehwagang) is part of Donghae Line serviceKORAIL has a number oftourist or sightseeing trains, including theSea Train,DMZ Train,V-Train,S-Train,A-Train, andG-Train.[7]
Korail offers a rail pass calledKorea Rail Pass, or KR Pass for short, to foreign travelers, such that they can take most of the trains operated by Korail freely, including KTX. However, subways and tourist trains operated by KORAIL are not covered.[8]
Foreigners living in South Korea for more than six months are ineligible to use a KR Pass, but Korail offers the Happy Rail Pass, which is very similar to the KR Pass, for a slightly higher price.[8]
Most of the railroad's employees are members of theKorean Railway Workers' Union, which is frequently at odds with KORAIL management.Strikes, such as theSouth Korean railroad strike of 2006, are not uncommon.
In December 2013, 23,000–100,000 union members and friends protested the privatization of KORAIL in Seoul.[9]
Until thedivision of Korea following the end of theSecond World War, theGyeongui Line andGyeongwon Line extended into what is nowNorth Korea. TheGyeongui Line connectedSeoul toKaesong,Pyongyang, andSinuiju on the Chinese border, while theGyeongwon Line servedWonsan on the east coast. Another line—theKumgangsan Electric Railway—connected the town ofCheorwon, now on the border ofNorth andSouth Korea, on theGyeongwon Line, toMt. Geumgang, now in theNorth.
TheGyeongui Line is one of two lines whose southern and northern halves are now being reconnected, the other line being theDonghae Bukbu Line. On 17 May 2007, two test trains ran on the reconnected lines: one on the west line fromMunsan toKaesong; the second on the east fromJejin toKumgang.[10]
In December 2007, regular freight service started on the Gyeongui line, from South Korea into theKaesong Industrial Park in the north. The service has been underutilized, however: as it was reported in October 2008, on 150 out of 163 return trips that had been done so far, the train carried no cargo at all. The total amount of cargo carried over this period had been merely 340 tons. This absence of interest in the service has been explained by the customers' (companies operating in Kaesong) preference for road transport.[11] In November 2008, North Korea shut down the link.[12] However, railroad transportation from South Korea to North Korea resumed again on 30 November 2018, when a South Korean train carrying railroad inspectors entered North Korea.[13][14]
ATrans-Korean Main Line, spanning North Korea and connecting toRussian Railways, is being planned.[15] On 30 November 2018, 30 officials from North and South Korea began an 18-day survey in both Koreas to connect the Korean railroads.[16][17][18] The survey, which had previously been obstructed by the Korean Demilitarized Zone's (DMZ) "frontline" guard posts and landmines located at the DMZ's Arrowhead Hill, consists of a 400-kilometer (250 mi)-long railroad section between Kaesong and Sinuiju that cuts through the North's central region and northeastern coast.[12] The railway survey, which involved the inspection of theGyeongui Line, concluded on 5 December 2018.[18] On 8 December 2018, an inter-Korean survey began in both Koreas for theDonghae Line.[19]
On 13 December 2018, it was announced that the groundbreaking ceremony to symbolize the reconnection of the roads and railways in both Koreas will be held on 26 December 2018 in the North Korean city of Kaesong.[20][21] On 17 December 2018, the latest inter-Korean railway survey, which involved an 800-km rail from Kumgangsan near the inter-Korean border to the Tumen River bordering Russia in the east, was completed.[22] A potential threat to the groundbreaking ceremony emerged after it was revealed that the North Korean railway was in poor condition.[22] On 21 December 2018, however, the United States agreed to no longer obstruct plans by both Koreas to hold a groundbreaking ceremony.[23] The same day, a four-day inter-Korean road survey began when ten working-level South Korean surveyors entered North Korea to work with ten North Korean surveyors on a three-day survey 100-km-long section on the eastern Donghae Line.[24] On 24 December 2018, the four-day road survey, which will assist with the groundbreaking ceremony for the railroad, was completed after a separate team of ten South Korean surveyors entered North Korea and joined ten North Korean surveyors to survey a 4-km-long road in Kaesong.[25] On 26 December 2018, the groundbreaking ceremony was held as scheduled in Kaesong.[26] About 100 South Korean officials attended the ceremony after departing to North Korea on a Korail train based at Dorasan Station in Palu.[26][13]
JR Kyushu offered ajet foil ferry service between Busan and Fukuoka taking about 3 hours. KORAIL andJR West had a joint rail pass (called한일공동승차권) which included discountedKTX andShinkansen tickets andBusan-Shimonoseki/Fukuokaferry tickets, but the pass was discontinued due to low ridership. In 2024, the service was discontinued owing to various safety issues deemed irrepairable.[27]
There are no railway connections between both countries. TheKorean Strait undersea tunnel connectingFukuoka andBusan viaTsushima had been proposed as far back as 1917, but the plan has never progressed beyond the research phase. While the increased wealth of South Korea and continued growth of trade between the nations has made the economic case for the tunnel more compelling, promotion has focused more on using the project to reduce political tension between the nations.[28]
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Korail lines | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Passenger train services ofKorail | ||
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| High-speed rail :KTX (KTX lines and services) |
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| Limited express : ITX | ||
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