[Korail, "KTX carried 960 million passengers in 19 years"]

19th anniversary of its opening, cumulative mileage of 590 million kilometers... It went around 15,000 times around the earth.

Seoul Station is the busiest with 220,000 people a day

Service evolves according to the changing times... Reflecting mobile trends such as KORAIL Talk

Near Cheonan-Asan Station on the Gyeongbu Express Line. KTX-Sancheon Jungryun Train

[Railroad Economic Daily = Correspondent Ryu Chang-gi] Korea's representative transportation KTX celebrates its 19th anniversary on the 1st of next month.

According to KORAIL, KTX, which opened as the world's fifth-largest in 2004, carried 960 million passengers and ran 590 million kilometers, the same as 15,000 laps around the globe (40,000 kilometers).

If you divide it by the number of people in 50 million, that means that each person has ridden the KTX more than 19 times.

The accumulated distance traveled by all users is 240 billion km. It is more than 1620 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun (150 million km).

Starting with the operation of the Gyeongbu Line (Seoul-Busan) and Honam Line (Yongsan-Mokpo) in 2004, KORAIL has expanded the beneficiary areas of high-speed rail to all parts of the country.

In the first year of its opening in 2004, KTX, which went to 20 stations on two routes in Gyeongbu and Honam, is available at 67 stations on eight routes nationwide this year.

The number of operations per day is 364 on weekends (284 on KTX, 80 on KTX-Ieum), a nearly threefold increase from 132 at the beginning of the service.

The station with the most daily passengers was Seoul Station with 92,000 passengers, an increase of about 2.7 times compared to 2004. The station with the largest increase in the number of passengers is Cheonan-Asan Station, with 22,000 passengers, a 6.2-fold increase.

As of March this year, KTX daily users recorded 220,000, exceeding the pre-coronavirus level of 190,000 per day. During the same period last year, an average of 150,000 KTX weekend passengers per day increased by 173% to exceed 260,000 this year.

The average number of KTX users per day is 220,000, which is more than three times higher than the 70,000 at the beginning of the service. The average number of operations per day increased 2.7 times from 132 at the beginning of the year to 364 this year.

The KTX-only car for asymptomatic overseas entrants transported a total of 260,000 people over three years, serving as a shield to prevent the spread of Corona 19.

In 2004, 18% of high-speed train users among all railroad users used KTX. The percentage has increased every year, reaching 60% last year. 6 out of 10 people are choosing KTX.

Rail services have evolved in line with the changing times. KORAIL is reflecting the mobile trend centered on the national app KORAIL Talk, which has recorded more than 11 million app downloads.

The rate of self-issuance of train tickets using non-face-to-face and online media such as Korail Talk reached 88.2% as of last year. Eight out of 10 people buy tickets (80.9%) from Korail Talk.

In Korail Talk, you can check the expected arrival time of a train in operation in real time, and if a train is delayed, you will be notified quickly with an app push notification.

A ‘Railway Crime Report’ channel is also in operation, which immediately transmits seat information to the railway judicial police situation room when a crime occurs on a train.

Since 2018, KORAIL has been promoting the ‘Intelligent Railway Transportation Integrated Service (Raas)’ that makes reservations for transportation and travel content at once in connection with trains.

In response, Korail Talk has established a mobile integrated travel platform that can book rental cars and tickets for tourist attractions together.

KORAIL is attempting to increase convenience by collaborating with private platforms, such as opening a ticket issuance function on portal sites such as Naver and Kakao, and promoting a luggage delivery service at railway stations.

Koh Jun-young, acting president of Korail, said, “I am grateful for the love and support of the people who have supported KTX to grow into a representative means of transportation,” and “I will try to become a safer and more pleasant travel partner.”

Source: Railroad Economy Newspaper (https://www.redaily.co.kr)