[2021 National Audit] SR Trainee Driver Operating Alone... 'Family' Unauthorized Boarding in the Driver's Cabin

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] It has been revealed that a trainee driver operated a train carrying about 300 passengers alone, while the trainee driver's family, including their spouse, was aboard the rear driver's cabin.

According to Jo O-seop, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, SR revealed that on March 20, during the operation of SRT Train No. 606 (Gwangju Songjeong~Suseo), the trainee driver operated the train alone for 1 hour and 55 minutes under the instruction of the instructor driver, and an unauthorized external person (family member) was allowed to board the rear driver's cabin.

The unauthorized boarding in the rear driver's cabin was possible because the instructor driver, responsible for training the trainee driver, omitted the approval procedure for boarding the driver's cabin.

In particular, this fact was uncovered following a passenger report who noticed the unauthorized external person boarding the rear driver's cabin, but even after the complaint was received, it was only simply communicated (shared) up to the center chief, including the instructor driver, and no action was taken on site, emphasized Representative Jo's office.

Subsequently, SR imposed a 'two-month suspension' on the instructor driver and a 'warning' on the mid-level manager, the train attendant, but the center chief and the trainee driver, who were informed of the situation but neglected it, received only a 'verbal warning.'

Representative Jo stated, "Fortunately, no accident occurred during the trainee driver's solo operation on March 20, but considering the strong wind advisory and unfavorable weather conditions, it was a 'close call' situation," and added, "SR must accelerate efforts to prevent recurrence and establish a safe operation system in light of this incident."

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