Starting July, Transfer Discounts on Airport Railroad for Residents of Yeongjongdo, Incheon

Airport Railroad Express Train
Photo by Airport Railroad

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Residents of Yeongjongdo, Incheon will receive airport railroad transfer discount benefits starting next month.

Incheon City announced on the 28th that, according to the 'Agreement to Provide Public Transportation Discounts for Yeongjong Residents' signed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Airport Railroad Co., Ltd. in December last year, discount benefits will be provided from July 1.

The fare discount amounts are 1,100 KRW (3,250 KRW → 2,150 KRW) one way for the Unseo?Seoul Station section (51.1 km), and 700 KRW (2,750 KRW → 2,050 KRW) for the Yeongjong?Seoul Station section (47.5 km).

However, even if residing in Yeongjong, seniors aged 65 or older, persons with disabilities, and national merit recipients who already use the airport railroad free of charge are excluded from the support.

Also, all types of transportation cards in use?prepaid, postpaid, credit, and debit cards?are accepted, but only one transportation card per person can be used, and if residency verification confirming living in Yeongjong is not completed during the payment month each quarter, the refund will not be granted.

Currently, the airport railroad applies an independent fare system (130 KRW per 1 km beyond 10 km), which is more expensive than the metropolitan integrated fare system (100 KRW per 5 km beyond 10 km) within Yeongjongdo, but from July, the integrated fare system will be implemented.

Previously, Yeongjongdo residents urged for fare discounts citing the heavy transportation cost burden due to the dual fare system, and Incheon City continuously requested the government for system improvements, resulting in the fare discount implementation confirmed through the agreement among related agencies.

According to the agreement, Incheon City will bear the entire cost of the airport railroad fare discount, and the bus transfer discount cost will be shared equally between Incheon City and Airport Railroad.

Yeongjong residents can receive quarterly post-discount refunds based on their transportation card usage data after registering on the public transportation cost support portal and completing the verification process.

An Incheon City official stated, "Although Yeongjongdo is a region with a population exceeding 100,000, it was the only area in the metropolitan area where the integrated transfer discount system was not applied, causing residents to face fare discrimination. Finally, this long-standing issue has been resolved."