Chuseok Train Tickets to Hometown, 100% Contactless Sales

Reservations Open from the 1st of Next Month

Priority Booking Day for IT Vulnerable Groups, 10% Reserved in Advance

On September 12, the first day of the Chuseok holiday last year, travelers heading home boarded the southbound train at Seoul Station platform. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] This year’s Chuseok holiday train tickets will be sold 100% contactless. As a measure to abolish on-site sales, a separate booking day will be provided for IT vulnerable groups, and 10% of the seats will be preferentially allocated to them.

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced that it will conduct advance sales of this year’s Chuseok holiday train tickets for three days from the 1st to the 3rd of next month. The tickets subject to sale are for KTX, ITX-Saemaeul, Mugunghwa trains, and tourist trains operating for six days from September 29 to October 4. On-site sales will be abolished to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Due to the abolition of on-site sales, on the first day, the 1st, 10% of all seats will be preferentially allocated for booking only by vulnerable groups such as the disabled and elderly who have difficulty using the internet and mobile devices. Booking will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Only seniors aged 65 or older and registered disabled persons can reserve tickets, and if they are railroad members, they can use the dedicated holiday ticket reservation website online via PC or mobile. Non-members can make reservations by phone. However, phone reservations are limited to the first 1,000 people on a first-come, first-served basis.

From the second day, the 2nd, all citizens including the disabled and elderly can book holiday train tickets online. On the 2nd, tickets for the Gyeongbu, Gyeongjeon, Donghae, and Chungbuk lines can be reserved, and on the 3rd, tickets for the Honam, Jeolla, Gangneung, Janghang, and Jungang lines can be reserved. Booking is available from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

KORAIL plans to limit reservations to a maximum of 6 one-way tickets and 12 round-trip tickets per person to support travel for as many users as possible. However, phone reservations are limited to 3 one-way tickets and 6 round-trip tickets per person.

Tickets reserved online or by phone must be paid for between 3 p.m. on the 3rd and midnight on the 6th. Tickets that are not paid for will be automatically canceled and allocated to those on the waiting list. Remaining seats that are not booked can be purchased in the same way as regular tickets from 3 p.m. on the 3rd.

For more details, you can check the 'Chuseok Ticket Reservation Dedicated Website' which will open in advance from 2 p.m. on the 28th. You can try the holiday ticket reservation method in advance or get train timetable information.

Meanwhile, KORAIL plans to take strong legal action, including requesting investigations, against illegal ticket acquisition using automated programs (macros). To this end, KORAIL plans to focus on analyzing the purchase history (access records) of suspected macro users during ticket reservations to secure evidence.

Son Byeong-seok, President of KORAIL, said, "In the serious situation of COVID-19, we decided on 100% online reservations to protect the safety of the people," adding, "However, we have carefully considered the needs of those unfamiliar with IT devices," and requested, "We ask those around the elderly and disabled to take an interest and help them make reservations."

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