[2023 National Audit] One in Five KTX·SRT Trains Operate with Delays

It has been revealed that one out of every five KTX and SRT trains is delayed by more than 5 minutes.

According to data submitted on the 17th by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) and SR to Choi In-ho, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the proportion of trains delayed by more than 5 minutes among the total train operations this year was 18% for KTX (as of August 2023) and 20% for SRT (as of September 2023).

Choi In-ho, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The train delay rate is on the rise. For KTX, the delay rate was 8.5% in 2019, then 7.5% in 2020, 10.8% in 2021, and jumped to 17.6% last year. SRT also recorded 6.3% in 2019, 10% in 2020, 10.9% in 2021, and 14.6% last year.

KORAIL and SR pay delay compensation when trains are delayed by more than 20 minutes, and as the train delay rate has increased, the delay compensation payments have also risen sharply. KORAIL recorded 870 million KRW in 2019, 630 million KRW in 2020, 800 million KRW in 2021, and jumped to 4.6 billion KRW last year. As of October this year, it recorded 2.9 billion KRW, and it is expected to increase further by the end of the year. SR recorded 180 million KRW in 2019, 220 million KRW in 2020, 300 million KRW in 2021, 1.2 billion KRW last year, and 330 million KRW as of August this year.

Assemblyman Choi said, "On-time operation of trains is a promise between Korea Railroad Corporation and SR and their customers," adding, "As a key national transportation means, trains must make greater efforts to operate on time from the perspective of customer service."

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