SOUTH KOREA: A timetable recast on February 25 has brought to an end the separation of national operator Korail’s KTX and Supreme Railways’ SRT services at the Seoul end of the main north-south high speed rail axis.
Until the change, each operator had used a separate terminus in Seoul; Korail trains ran to and from Seoul station, while Supreme Railways used Suseo in the southeast of the conurbation. Since February 25, one return train per day from each operator has been using the alternative station in the capital: SR’s 11.00 train from Busan runs to Seoul station, returning at 14.19, while Korail runs its 10.33 KTX service from Busan to Suseo, returning south at 13.55.
This operational change marks a further milestone in plans to combine the two companies. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport had announced its Dual High Speed Railway Integration Roadmap in December, with the intention to merge Korail with Supreme Railways by the end of 2026.
The main objective is to increase seat capacity by about 6%, tackling the shortage of available seats on high speed services across the country. The merger would allow Korail to introduce more off-peak services, and run longer 20-car trainsets at peak times to and from the Suseo terminus.
During the initial period following the recast, KTX fares from Suseo have been set at the same price point as those offered for SRT trains, while SRT fares from Seoul station will be on average 10% lower than KTX fares.
