Daegwangwi-11 Railroad Transport Agencies, Metropolitan Area Connection Fare Settlement Agreement

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee and 11 railway transportation agencies signed the "Agreement for the Settlement of Contact Fare among Metropolitan Area Railway Agencies" on the 8th.

The settlement of contact fares among railway agencies refers to the mutual settlement of fare revenues when multiple transportation agencies provide connecting transportation for the same passenger, and in the metropolitan area, this has been implemented since 1974.

However, unlike the past when there were initially only two participating agencies, the number has now significantly increased to 11, and with the emergence of new types of transportation agencies such as light rail and private investment lines, disputes over settlement rules among agencies have continued, making it difficult to resolve conflicts independently.

Accordingly, the Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee and each transportation agency promoted this agreement as the first step to proactively mediate conflicts between agencies in the future and to introduce a sustainable contact fare settlement system, including joint projects led by the committee.

It is expected that once contact fare settlement rules and a periodic settlement system are established through this agreement, the management risks of railway agencies will decrease and the stability of transportation services will be enhanced.

The committee plans to conduct a joint project starting February next year to establish settlement rules, and based on the results, build a sustainable settlement system that will carry out periodic settlements on a daily or monthly basis in the future.

Park Jeong-ho, Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Fare Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee, said, "The settlement of contact fares among metropolitan area railway agencies, which has been a source of conflict for decades, has now taken the first step toward conflict resolution with this agreement," and added, "If a rational and objective settlement plan is established through the upcoming joint project, it will greatly contribute to the development and service improvement of metropolitan area railway agencies."