“Getting a ticket requires picking stars in the sky and even delays… increasing inconvenience for KTX passengers.”

Jeong Il-young “Over the past five years, the number of users has increased by 83.1%… the number of seats supplied has only increased by 5.2%.”

(Daejeon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jun-ho = Rep. Jeong Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea (Incheon Yeonsu-eul), a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, argued at the National Assembly audit of the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) held at the National Assembly on the 13th that compared to the increase in the number of KTX users, seat supply is insufficient and train delays are increasing.

According to data Representative Jeong received from KORAIL, the number of KTX users increased by about 83.1% from 45.446 million in 2021 to 83.234 million last year.

On the other hand, over the same period, the number of seats supplied only increased by about 5.2% from 70.147 million to 73.786 million.

Representative Jeong pointed out that although the number of users has continued to increase over the past five years, the increase in seats supplied has been minimal, resulting in a seat shortage.

Rep. Jeong suggested that the supply of regular trains in sections where demand is concentrated should be expanded based on the sold-out status by route, day of the week, and time, and that improvement of track bottleneck sections that limit the increase in trains should also be promoted.

Rep. Jeong argued that in order to resolve the shortage of KTX tickets and secure stable transportation capacity, the construction of the Pyeongtaek (SR Branch)-Osong double track, which is currently being promoted, should be completed by 2028 as planned, expanding the track capacity from 190 to 372 per day.

He emphasized that the plan to introduce new high-speed trains should be implemented on time so that there are no disruptions in the increase in trains after the opening of the double-track line, and that projects to improve railway bottlenecks in the metropolitan area, such as undergrounding the 24.5km line between Susaek and Gwangmyeong, should be promoted with a sense of speed.

Rep. Jeong said, "The number of KTX users is increasing, but the number of seats supplied last year actually decreased. People are experiencing the double inconvenience of making it difficult to get tickets and having difficult trains delayed," and added, "We should not stop at using temporary trains and existing seats, but expand transportation capacity by increasing the number of regular trains and improving bottleneck sections."