'Urban Rail Management Crisis' 13 Metropolitan and Local Government Heads Adopt 'Joint Petition'

Joint Proposal for Adoption of New Government's National Tasks
Unprecedented Financial Crisis Due to Low Fares, Demographic Changes, and Prolonged COVID-19
Exhaustion of Investment Capacity Needed for Reinvestment in Aging Facilities, Urban Rail Safety, and Passenger Convenience

On the 13th, one day before the general strike announced by the Seoul Metro Labor Union, a train is stopped at the Korea Railroad Corporation Guro Vehicle Office in Guro-gu, Seoul. The labor and management are scheduled to hold final negotiations on the same day, but concerns about the strike becoming a reality are growing as both sides are sharply divided over the restructuring plan. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has formed an emergency transportation countermeasure headquarters and plans to deploy 13,000 substitute workers, including retirees, to prevent confusion during commuting hours. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Urban Railway Operators Association, composed of 13 metropolitan and local governments, announced on the 18th that it has adopted a ‘Joint Petition’ requesting national government compensation for the statutory free ride losses of urban railways.

The joint petition will be officially delivered to the new government transition committee at the association level. Seoul and Daejeon, representing the association, requested compensation for free ride losses from the transition committee on March 24. The association is composed of seven metropolitan governments including Seoul and Busan, and six local governments including Uijeongbu and Bucheon, working to secure central government support for urban railway free ride losses.

Statutory free rides on urban railways were introduced in 1984 by presidential directive to guarantee universal mobility rights for the elderly, disabled, and veterans, generating broad social benefits such as economic activity, leisure and tourism revitalization, and health promotion. However, due to the rapid increase in the elderly population, years of fare freezes, and a decrease in passengers caused by COVID-19, urban railway deficits have ballooned like a snowball, threatening the fiscal soundness of local governments.

The net loss of nationwide urban railway operators in 2021 was 1.6 trillion won, an increase of more than 50% compared to 2019 before COVID-19. Most local governments, including Seoul, have frozen fares since the 2015 fare increase, resulting in an average fare of about 30% of the transportation cost, enduring deficits to stabilize people’s livelihoods. Moreover, as the urban railways in Seoul and Busan have been in operation for 30 to 40 years, there is a growing demand for large-scale replacement and repair of aging facilities such as trains and expansion of convenience facilities, but securing the necessary funds is difficult due to the large-scale financial requirements.

In particular, these difficulties are more pronounced in light rail systems operated by local governments with weaker financial capacity. The association holds the position that, considering the continuous expansion of the urban railway network, rapid demographic changes, the fairness with Korea Railroad Corporation which receives national subsidies for free ride losses, and ongoing discussions on free ride losses in the National Assembly, the government should no longer delay national subsidies for free ride losses.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "Not only large cities such as Seoul and Busan, but also local governments like Gimpo and Uijeongbu have reached financial limits while bearing the urban railway free ride losses instead of the government," adding, "Since the new government’s policy direction is to promote practical policies based on voices from the field, we expect bold decisions for the sustainable and safe operation of urban railways used by more than 25 million people."

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