"Many People Couldn't Get Tickets..." 440,000 No-Show Train Seats During Last Year's Holiday

Kim Heejung Stresses Need for Systematic Train Ticket Management
Calls for Solutions Beyond Higher Penalties to Address No-Show Issue

It was revealed that the so-called 'no-show' train tickets, referring to reservations that were canceled without notice during last year's Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, amounted to 440,000 tickets.

According to data received on the 26th from Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) by Kim Hee-jung, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, the number of train tickets canceled just before departure or returned after departure during last year's Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays was counted at 440,895. These tickets are classified as no-shows because they are not resold.

The no-show train tickets included 339,381 KTX tickets, 64,382 Mugunghwa train tickets, and 37,132 Saemaeul train tickets.

Yonhap News

The number of no-show train tickets during the holidays exceeded 400,000 for the second consecutive year following the previous year. By year, there were 125,045 tickets in 2021, 266,555 tickets in 2022, and 454,348 tickets in 2023.

In response, KORAIL doubled the refund penalty for train tickets from the 24th of last month until the 2nd of next month to prevent no-shows. Previously, a 15% penalty was charged if canceled within 20 minutes after departure, but during this period, a 30% penalty will be charged.

Assemblyman Kim said, "No-shows are a serious problem that prevents those in need from using the trains," and emphasized, "We should not simply increase the penalty fees but establish a systematic ticket management plan, such as increasing the number of trains according to demand."

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