'SRT Derailment' Recovery Complete... Gyeongbu High-Speed Line Train Service Resumes

On the afternoon of the 1st, an SRT train departing from Busan Station and heading to Seoul Suseo Station derailed near Daejeon Freight Yard Station, injuring six people. The photo shows the scene of the SRT derailment accident. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Taemin] The recovery from the SRT derailment accident on the Gyeongbu Line that occurred on the 1st has been completed. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the northbound service between Daejeon and Osong stations fully resumed from 7:13 a.m. on the 2nd. The southbound line has been operating normally since the first KTX train from Seoul to Jinju departed at 5:05 a.m. that day.

Immediately after the accident, the Ministry activated the railway disaster response team and, in cooperation with related organizations such as Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), completed the restoration of the tracks and overhead lines around 7 a.m. that day. After test runs until 7:13 a.m., the safety of the tracks was confirmed.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong inspected the accident situation at Seoul Station from 11:10 p.m. the previous day, went down to the platform to apologize directly to passengers, and promised, “We will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and ensure that such an accident never happens again.”

At around 3:21 p.m. the previous day, SRT train No. 338 traveling from Busan to Suseo derailed near Daejeon Jochajang Station, injuring seven people who were transported to nearby hospitals. Due to this accident, the operation of 14 high-speed trains including KTX and SRT was canceled, and train services were delayed by up to 5 hours and 26 minutes.