Hyundai Rotem: "Early This Year KTX Derailment Due to Maintenance Issues"

"KTX Safer Operation Efforts"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Hyundai Rotem claimed that the derailment accident of the KTX-Sancheon train that occurred in Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk in January was due to maintenance issues, not manufacturing problems. This was in response to Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) filing a lawsuit demanding 7 billion KRW in damages, holding Hyundai Rotem responsible for the KTX derailment.

On the 27th, Hyundai Rotem stated, "The damaged wheel was inspected upon delivery by a third-party authorized institution according to the 'Railroad Vehicle Manufacturing Inspection Guidelines' under the Railroad Safety Act," adding, "The inspection results showed that the hardness and other performance met the international standard 'EN 13262' related to wheel manufacturing."

The day before, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board announced, "The investigation into the KTX-Sancheon derailment concluded that the cause of derailment was the fatigue fracture of the right rear wheel of the middle bogie in the train's direction of travel, which broke before reaching the wear limit."

Hyundai Rotem rebutted, "The wheel in question was a 'normal wheel' with no abnormalities found during the official performance inspection conducted before delivery," and added, "Considering that it was a wheel of a 'non-warranty vehicle' that had already traveled over 2.07 million km since 2017, the issue lies in maintenance rather than manufacturing." They further stated, "We will continue to make every effort to manufacture high-speed trains that satisfy our customers."

On January 5th, a KTX-Sancheon train heading from Seoul Station to Busan Station derailed one passenger car (car number 4) while passing through the Yeongdong Tunnel in Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk. The accident caused the train windows to shatter and debris to scatter, injuring seven passengers, and disrupted the operation of 215 trains.