Korea Railroad Fully Opens Railroad Museum Featuring 12,000 Artifacts on Display

Main building exterior of the Railroad Museum located in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do. Provided by Korea Railroad Corporation

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] In line with the government's social distancing easing measures, the Railway Museum, which had been firmly closed, will resume operations.

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced that the Railway Museum will fully reopen starting from the 23rd. The Railway Museum is the largest railway-related museum in South Korea, located in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do.

KORAIL had closed the museum for an extended period to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but began limited operations from the 11th, accepting reservations for up to 300 visitors per day.

Currently, the Railway Museum houses over 12,600 railway-related artifacts, including four newly designated national registered cultural heritage vehicles by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The newly designated national registered cultural heritage railway vehicles include the narrow-gauge diesel car No. 163 and narrow-gauge passenger car No. 18011, which operated on the discontinued narrow-gauge Suin Line (Suwon~Incheon) and Suryeo Line (Suwon-Yeoju) sections, as well as the ‘Anchuncheon Railway Bridge Structure’ donated by the Korea Rail Network Authority.

Among these, the Anchuncheon Railway Bridge Structure was installed during the Gyeongin Line track improvement project in 1906 and has been in operation for over 100 years. KORAIL explains that traces of the Korean War remain on various parts of the bridge deck.

The Railway Museum's visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the admission fee is 2,000 KRW for adults and 1,000 KRW for children and adolescents.

Baek Eun-seon, director of the Railway Museum at KORAIL, said, “While the museum was closed due to COVID-19, we replaced exhibition panels and installed an electric train simulator, completing renovations. We hope that more visitors will come to the museum to directly appreciate the railway artifacts.”