People Power Party Gwangju Branch Promotes Expansion and Increase of KTX Seat Supply at Songjeong Station

The People Power Party Gwangju Metropolitan City Party is promoting the expansion and increase of high-speed train seat supply at Gwangju Songjeong Station as the second local issue to be resolved.

With the increase in KTX passengers at Gwangju Songjeong Station, citizens' demands for additional trains are rising, making it one of the local issues to be addressed this year.

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On the 28th, according to the People Power Party Gwangju City Party, Kim Jeong-hyun, the city party chairman, visited the Korea Railroad Corporation in Daejeon to propose the expansion of the number of high-speed train seats and additional train services at Gwangju Songjeong Station.

During the visit, Bae Young-sang, Director of Gwangju Metropolitan Transportation Division, and Yang Dong-pil, Head of the Railroad Tram Policy Team, accompanied him.

The Gwangju city government requested upgrading the KTX Sancheon trains (10 cars) to KTX1 trains (20 cars) with larger capacity, considering fairness with other regions, and asked for 2 to 3 additional services during weekends (Friday to Sunday) when ticketing is difficult.

Kim Jeong-hyun, city party chairman, said, “Since March, we have been working with the Korea Railroad Corporation on the issue of increasing KTX services at Gwangju Songjeong Station,” adding, “Citizens traveling between Seoul and Gwangju are experiencing difficulties using the trains due to a shortage of KTX seats, so we must increase the number of seats supplied and the frequency of train services.”

In response, Noh Jun-gi, Head of Passenger Marketing at the Korea Railroad Corporation’s Customer Marketing Division, said, “We will do our best to increase train services when conditions allow,” and “We will thoroughly review this together with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and local governments.”

Meanwhile, the average daily number of KTX passengers at Gwangju Songjeong Station is about 26,000, and the inconvenience to local residents due to sold-out seats on weekends is increasing.

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