An SRT on the left, bound for Suseo in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, and a KTX train wait to depart Pohang Station in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, on Sept. 3, 2023.NEWS1
KTX and SRT are finally getting on the same track.
Starting Tuesday, Korea’s two high-speed rail services will operate under one roof after the merger of Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) and SR. Korail operates the KTX bullet train, while SR runs a separate service called SRT.
All legal and administrative procedures required for the merger have been completed, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday.
The move follows approval of the merger by the Fair Trade Commission on Aug. 2. Other procedures, including approval for the transfer of business operations and revisions to railway operating plans and safety management systems, have also been completed.
Korail will temporarily establish an integrated business management division within its existing organization to take over SR's operations. The division is capped at three years, with Korail set to determine its exact duration after a one-year review of integration progress and organizational stability.
The division will operate for up to three years. Korail plans to determine how long it will remain in place after assessing the progress of the integration and organizational stability one year after the merger.
SR employees will broadly retain their jobs under the condition that their existing employment terms are maintained. Any further adjustments — to duties, pay or benefits — will go through future labor-management negotiations. Details involving employment, duties, pay and benefits will be adjusted through future labor-management negotiations.
The government and Korail also plan to expand the number of available seats.
A coupled KTX and SRT train sits at a platform at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Aug. 2.YONHAP
Starting in 2027, Korail plans to introduce 31 new high-speed trainsets in phases. Each will have eight cars and about 500 seats, roughly 90 more seats than an existing KTX-Sancheon trainset.
The government also plans to steadily increase high-speed rail services and seat capacity alongside infrastructure projects, including the construction of additional tracks between Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, and Osong, North Chungcheong.
The government will assess additional revenue from the increased seat capacity as well as cost savings from the merger, with the goal of improving passenger convenience while maintaining Korail's financial health.
Safety measures will also be strengthened during the initial stages of the integration.
Joint inspections will cover training for train drivers, the coupling and separation of multiple-unit trains, responses to unusual situations and crowd management at stations. An emergency response team will remain in operation through the end of the year.
Passengers flood Seoul Station in Yongsan Station, central Seoul, on Aug. 2.YONHAP
A comprehensive emergency response drill will also be conducted on the Suseo high-speed railway line in September.
“From the very start of the integration, we will put safety first and carefully inspect operations on the ground,” Land Minister Kim Yun-duk said. “We will work to make high-speed rail more convenient for the public and provide better railway services.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
