Sold out? ... 40% Cancellation Rate for Holiday Train Tickets Over 5 Years

by Kim Hyunjeong2

Published 09 Feb.2024 16:26(KST)

Train tickets not sold even after one cancellation also 4%

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) revealed that over the past five years, 4 out of every 10 train tickets issued for KTX, Saemaeul, and Mugunghwa trains during holiday periods were canceled after being booked. Additionally, about 4 out of every 100 tickets remained unsold and vacant after cancellation.

According to data submitted by KORAIL on the 9th to Maeng Seong-gyu, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 32.4 million tickets were issued during 10 Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods from 2019 to 2023. Among these, 40.3%, or 13.078 million tickets, were canceled by purchasers and returned to KORAIL.

On the 7th, ahead of Seollal, the biggest traditional holiday, the Gangneung Line train is running vigorously in Mangmiri, Jipyeong-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Despite going through a resale process after cancellation, 4% of the total tickets, or 1.297 million tickets, were ultimately not resold. This means that during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods, when ticket demand surges every year, 4 out of every 100 seats on trains operated empty.

The cancellation rate (return rate) of train tickets increased gradually after the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from 33.2% during Lunar New Year and 34.7% during Chuseok in 2019 to 42.4% during Lunar New Year 2021 and 43.5% during Chuseok 2022. Last year, it reached the highest level in five years with 44.9% during Lunar New Year and 45.9% during Chuseok.

As the return rate increased, the proportion of tickets that were not resold also showed an upward trend. It was 3.3% during Lunar New Year 2019, 3.9% during Lunar New Year 2021, 4.5% during Chuseok 2022, and 5% and 4.7% during Lunar New Year and Chuseok last year, respectively. The penalty fees incurred from ticket cancellations during holiday periods totaled 7.08 billion KRW over the past five years, reaching 2.05 billion KRW last year alone.

Regarding this, Assemblyman Maeng Seong-gyu stated, "In a situation where booking holiday train tickets is called 'like picking stars from the sky,' it is necessary to find ways for consumers to make the most use of seats that ultimately remain unsold." He emphasized, "Measures should be sought to reduce consumer inconvenience, such as exploring on-site sales methods for these seats and strengthening actions related to time slots with high ticket wastage rates."