South Korea

Country Details

Name: South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea; 대한민국; Daehan Minguk
Language: Korean
Currency: South Korean Won (KRW); (₩)

National railway system

National Railway Operator

Korean Railroad (Korail).

Infrastructure Authority

KRNA Korea Rail Network Authority; 한국철도시설공단

UIC code

numeric 61; alpha KNR

Timetable

Information is available at the Man in Seat 61.

Journey Planner

The Letskorail journey planner.

Downloadable Timetable

KTX (high speed) trains.

Ordinary trains.

The downloaded excel format timetables, both effective from 2 April 2015, are in Korean only but with station names in English as well.

Printed Timetable

None known.

Summary timetables are available in some editions of the European Rail Timetable.

Engineering Information

None.

Maps

Printed Maps

• Quail Map Company's Korea, North and South, Railway Map ISBN: 978 1898319 21 4 was published in 1996.

Web-based Maps

• Korail system map. Clicking on each tab under “Railroad Route Map” highlights each separate route.
• More recent map in Korean characters only
• South Korea Railroad Map; click on “image hosted on flickr” to enlarge the map.

Ticketing

Korea Rail Pass information is available on the Korearailway website. Note that the Happy Rail Pass appears to be restricted to foreigners who live in Korea.

Infrastructure

Gauge

Standard.

Electrification

25kV 50Hz on all the Korail operated network except the Ilsan Line, AREX 1500V DC on all rapid transit networks including the Korail Ilsan Line

Rule of the road

Left; right on some of the Seoul metro lines not operated by Korail.

Other Railways

None.

Tourist Lines

• Jeongseon Auraji Rail Bike
• Other Rail Bikes
• Gangchon Rail Park
• Seomjingang River also on Seomjingang River or Gokseong Train Village

Metro

Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Incheon.

A map with the location of Urban Railways is on the Korearailway website. There are links to route maps of the city metros on the same page.

Trams

None.

Recent and Future Changes

In July 2016, the government approved the following new lines:

• Chuncheon - Sokcho (94 km) in the northeastern province of Gangwon.

And south of Seoul

• A link from the Seoul – Busan high speed line to Eocheon station on the Su-In Line (3.5 km)
• A link at Soejeong-ri (4.7 km) to enable more high speed trains to serve Suwon.

Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services

[Gwangju – ] Geungnakgang – Gwangju-Songjeong KR1

Geungnakgang and Gwangju stations are served by triangular access from the west. The north arm is used by services to and from Gwangju not booked to call at Gwangju-Songjeong station; the south arm is used only by four train pairs daily calling at both Gwangju and Gwangju-Songjeong (services Gwangju ⇔ Mokpo or Suncheon) and by one train pair Mokpo ⇔ Bujeon. Service at October 2013:

• 1981 06:55 Gwangju - Mokpo and 1982 18:40 return
• 1951 06:25 Bujeon - Mokpo and 1954 09:10 return
• 1972 06:10 and 1974 18:52 Gwangju - Suncheon and 1971 06:20 and 1973 17:35 return

Through trains Seoul ⇔ Mokpo use the third side of the triangle, serving Gwangju-Songjeong station and thus avoiding Geungnakgang and Gwangju stations. Report updated: November 2013

Jeonui – Osong KR2

This curve permits north - east movements at Jochiwon. Service at October 2013: 1282 09:00 Jecheon - Seoul and 1281 18:05 Seoul - Jecheon. Reported: November 2013

Angang – Seogyeongju KR3

This curve permits east - west movements at Gyeongju. Service at October 2013: 1042 08:00 and 1044 17:20 Pohang - Seoul and 1041 09:35 and 1043 16:05 return. Reported: November 2013

Hayang – Bugyeongcheon KR4

This curve permits west to north movements at Yeongcheon. Service at October 2013: 1672 06:15 and 1674 16:30 Dongdaegu - Gangneung and 1671 0615 and 1673 17:22 return. Reported: November 2013

Special Notes

None.