SRT Service Reduction... Busan City Consults with Ministry of Land, Increases Reserved Seat Numbers

From September 1, Gyeongbu Line SRT Weekday (Mon-Thu) Round Trips Reduced from 40 to 35

Busan City and Ministry of Land Agree, Average Daily Reserved Seats Increase by 391, Improving Booking Convenience for Busan Citizens

Busan City announced that, following the reduction of weekday (Monday to Thursday) SRT operations on the Gyeongbu Line starting September 1, it requested an increase in the number of reserved seats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and SR Co. to minimize inconvenience to Busan citizens, and recently received a firm response.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and SR Co. decided to increase the allocation ratio of reserved seats between Busan and Suseo despite the reduction in SRT operation frequency, resulting in an average daily increase of 391 seats available for reservation by Busan citizens compared to before.

Previously, with 40 round trips, an average of 13,001 reserved seats per weekday were allocated between Busan and Suseo on the SRT.

Even with the reduction to 35 round trips after September 1, 13,392 reserved seats will be allocated, increasing the average daily reserved seats by 391. This is expected to alleviate inconvenience for passengers traveling between Busan and Suseo.

Additionally, the number of KTX services between Busan and Seoul will be increased by three trips per day to supplement the operation frequency on the shared section of SRT and KTX (Busan-Cheonan Asan), and the overall number of high-speed train operations between Busan and Seoul will be increased to minimize inconvenience for Busan citizens.

Currently, KTX operates 50 round trips on weekdays and 62 on weekends, and with the addition of three round trips on both weekdays and weekends, it is expected that seat reservation convenience for high-speed rail users between Busan and Seoul will improve.

Jung Im-su, Director of the Busan City Transportation Bureau, stated, “Amid concerns over the reduction of SRT operations, the expanded allocation of reserved seats on the SRT that Busan citizens can actually use, along with the increased KTX services, has somewhat alleviated citizens’ inconvenience. We will continue to request the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to increase the operation frequency of high-speed trains departing from Suseo.”