KORAIL to Begin Chuseok Holiday Ticket Reservations on the 3rd; Integrated Membership Required

[Financial News] Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced on the 2nd that it will begin Chuseok holiday ticket reservations on the 3rd. The reservations cover trains operating over five days from the 23rd through the 27th and will be conducted entirely remotely through the KORAIL+ mobile app and KORAIL’s dedicated holiday website.
In particular, this year’s Chuseok reservations are the first holiday booking period since KORAIL and SR Corporation integrated their services. Passengers must complete integrated membership registration or conversion to purchase tickets. Existing KORAIL members will be converted automatically, but users who were registered only with SR Corporation must complete a separate registration process through the KORAIL+ app or the dedicated website.
Advance reservations for transportation-vulnerable passengers will be available on the 3rd and 4th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eligible passengers include people aged 65 or older, registered persons with disabilities, national merit honorees eligible for transportation assistance, and pregnant women. Except for senior members, transportation-vulnerable passengers must complete identity verification in advance on the dedicated website to make a reservation. Telephone reservations through the railroad customer service center will also be available for people who have difficulty using the internet. By route, reservations for the Gyeongbu, Gyeongjeon and East Sea lines, among others, will be held on the 3rd, while reservations for the Honam, Jeolla and Gangneung lines, among others, will take place on the 4th.
Reservations for the general public will run for five days from the 7th through the 11th, daily from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reservations for all routes served by regular trains, including ITX-Saemaeul and Mugunghwa-ho, will begin on the 7th. Starting on the 8th, KTX reservations will proceed sequentially by route and departure station. In particular, reservations for KTX services departing from Suseo Station, formerly SRT, are scheduled for the 10th, requiring passengers using trains departing from Suseo to take note. KORAIL has completed infrastructure checks ahead of a surge in traffic, expanding its web servers from 11 to 60 and adding internet lines and large-scale connection control systems.
KORAIL also plans to strengthen enforcement in cooperation with the Railroad Police against the recurring problems of ticket scalping and the use of illegal macro programs during holiday ticket reservations. Scalpers who sell tickets through secondhand trading platforms or social networking services may face a fine of up to 10 million won under the Railroad Business Act. Illegal collection activities using macros will be subject to strict judicial action.
Many reservations are automatically canceled each year because passengers fail to complete payment within the designated payment period after successfully booking tickets. KORAIL urged passengers to reconfirm the payment schedule immediately after completing a reservation to avoid disadvantages caused by nonpayment. Canceled remaining seats will be converted to regular sales after the general reservation period ends and can be purchased both on-site and online.
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter