60 days into high-speed rail integration: 322,000 passengers a day, up 12.6%

[Financial News] In the two months since KTX and SRT were integrated, high-speed train ridership averaged 322,000 passengers a day, up 36,000 (12.6%) from a year earlier. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced the results of the first 60 days of high-speed rail integration and their plans for the future on the 5th.
Figures from September 1 to October 30 show that the monthly growth rate rose from 11.9% in September to 13.3% in October. This was the result of adding seats and increasing the number of train services. With expanded transfer discounts, average daily transfers between high-speed and conventional rail also increased by 54.5%, from 6,110 before integration to 9,441 afterward.
Public fare discounts for children, young people, seniors and pregnant women, which before integration applied only to KTX routes, were extended to the former SRT routes, and transfer discounts between high-speed and conventional rail were also unified. The benefits for September, tallied at about 22.8 billion won when results were announced on the 30th, effectively rose to about 28.7 billion won in the second month.
Booking convenience will be improved in stages. Features that had drawn complaints, including retaining train-type and adjacent-station settings and booking round trips, were fixed last month. The estimated refund amount display and simplified booking features will be revised by the end of the year. The railway will also seek input from a UI/UX improvement committee made up of outside experts.
Ahead of Chuseok ticket reservations, Korail increased its web servers from the usual 11 to 60 and its mass-access control units from 6 to 20, and even conducted 232 simulation tests, but it could not prevent delays in accessing the system. It will analyze the causes and improve system performance. Fraudulent bookings using macros and other methods will be prevented by upgrading detection and blocking functions, cooperating with relevant agencies and improving regulations.
MOLIT Minister Hong Ji-seon said, “The benefits of integration are beginning to emerge: at least 320,000 people a day are using the trains, and the burden of transportation costs is also falling. We will carefully address even minor issues on the ground, including booking inconveniences, and do our utmost to ensure that the benefits of integration reach everyone, with safety as our top priority.”
Korail President Kim Taeseung said, “The rapid establishment of integrated high-speed rail was possible thanks to the public, who trusted us and continued to use the trains. We will repay that trust with rigorous safety and service, so that unified high-speed rail can contribute to balanced national development as a backbone transport network connecting the entire country quickly, safely and conveniently.”
[email protected] Jeong Gyeong-su Reporter