Breaking the Monopoly in Railway Maintenance... Government to Push for Amendment of the Cheolsan Act

The government is pushing to break the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL)'s monopoly on railway facility maintenance and other related tasks, and to allow various organizations to participate in maintenance work.

Exterior view of Korail Seoul Headquarters. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 14th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will promote the "Railway Industry Development Basic Act Amendment" (Rail Industry Act).

Currently, Article 38 of the Rail Industry Act stipulates that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport entrusts the railway facility maintenance and repair tasks to KORAIL. This is a monopolistic clause that allows only KORAIL to perform maintenance and repair work on domestic railway facilities.

In fact, due to this clause, KORAIL performs maintenance and repair of railway facilities on lines it does not operate, such as the SR Suseo High-Speed Line, Jinjeop Line, and GTX-A.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that the sections of the national railway where KORAIL performs maintenance despite not operating them are continuously increasing, making the amendment of the Rail Industry Act urgent. The ministry is requesting that the amendment be discussed at the National Assembly's Transport Bill Review Subcommittee meeting scheduled for the 19th.

Previously, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, KORAIL, and the Korea National Railway Corporation commissioned Boston Consulting Group to conduct an objective analysis regarding the transfer of railway maintenance tasks.

According to the consultancy results, the fragmentation of facility management?where maintenance and control are entrusted to KORAIL, while construction and improvement are entrusted to the Railway Corporation?was identified as a fundamental cause of railway accidents, highlighting the need to amend the Rail Industry Act.

It also suggested promoting organizational innovation within KORAIL to urgently secure public safety related to railway operations. It analyzed that a fundamental restructuring would be necessary if safety management is inadequate.

To strengthen safety management, it proposed safety indicators that require maintaining the average of the past three years for ▲passenger train collisions and derailments, ▲railway worker casualties, and ▲long-term operation delays at 1.3 times or less. If these safety indicators are exceeded, fundamental restructuring would be necessary.

Considering various factors, the Ministry plans to guarantee KORAIL's exclusive maintenance clause in the Rail Industry Act, but to have KORAIL perform maintenance on sections it operates, and have the respective operators perform maintenance on other sections.

Baek Won-guk, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Based on the principle that public safety is the top priority, the amendment of the Rail Industry Act is an urgent matter, and we will do our best to ensure it is promptly discussed in the National Assembly."