Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Joins Hands with Mayor Lee Kang-deok: Field Administration Pays Off... Increased KTX Services from Pohang to Seoul Station

Weekday Service Frequency Increased from 26 to 30 Trips

Mayor Lee Gang-deok is seen taking a commemorative photo after meeting with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook to request an increase in high-speed rail services.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City has announced that the 'Donghae Line KTX Pohang~Seoul Station section,' which it has continuously requested, will have increased service starting August 1.

Pohang City stated on the 12th that the number of KTX trains operating on the Donghae Line KTX Pohang~Seoul Station section, which has been difficult to use due to high passenger demand and standing-room-only tickets being sold out, will increase from the 1st of next month.

This increase in service is the first in about two years since the last expansion in September 2019. On weekdays, the number of runs will increase by 4, and on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), it will also increase by 4. Although the Donghae Line KTX was increased by 2 runs on weekends in 2019 (from 26 to 28 runs), there was still a shortage of seats.

In particular, weekend usage rates reached 118%, with 170,000 standing passengers annually. According to Pohang City, this caused significant inconvenience as passengers who could not use the train had to seek other transportation such as express buses or airplanes.

Pohang City has continuously requested additional increases in Donghae Line KTX service by visiting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. On the 28th of last month, Mayor Lee Kang-deok met with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to actively advocate for the necessity of increasing Donghae Line KTX service and establishing a new Suseo-bound KTX.

With this increase, the Donghae Line KTX service will expand from 26 to 30 runs on weekdays and from 28 to 32 runs on weekends. Since the KTX opened in 2015, during Mayor Lee Kang-deok’s tenure, weekday runs have increased by 14 and weekend runs by 12.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, "Since the operation of KTX on the Suseo~Pohang section is also essential, we will continue to request this from Korea Railroad Corporation and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to ensure that this long-awaited project by citizens comes to fruition as soon as possible."

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