"If You Act Surprised When Caught, It's Free"... Controversy Over KTX Fare Evasion Tricks

KTX Partial Section Payment and Holding On
Tips Shared Online, Questions About Fare Evasion
KORAIL Strengthens Monitoring and Operates Reporting Channel

Ahead of Chuseok, the KTX 'fare evasion tricks' have become a controversy. Some passengers book tickets only up to the station before their destination, then pretend to sleep, or if caught, act flustered or voluntarily report themselves to avoid paying additional fees, or pay only part of the fare. Although passengers who voluntarily report must pay 1.5 times the original fare, they exploit the loophole that train attendants, from a customer service perspective, are reluctant to impose fines strictly.

A post uploaded on the 7th to an anonymous community for office workers
[Photo source=online community]

Recently, an anonymous office worker community posted a thread titled "My personal KTX saving tip." The author was a government official. He said, "When I travel from Seoul to Busan, I buy a KTX ticket only up to Daegu, then after passing Daegu, I put on earphones and pretend to sleep," adding, "You shouldn't take trains that stop at Ulsan or Gyeongju (before Busan)." He continued, "If you're unlucky and get caught, just say you had to get off at Daegu Station. Then they usually let it go, or a stricter ticket inspector will charge only the fare from Daegu to Busan," emphasizing, "You have to act flustered well."

Over the past five years until last year, more than 40,000 cases of illegal KTX boarding during holidays have been detected. According to the office of Kim Hak-yong, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, from 2018 to February last year, Korail detected 41,923 cases of illegal boarding during holidays. The additional fares collected amounted to 1.059 billion KRW. "Riding without a ticket" accounted for 97% (40,700 cases) of all illegal boarding types and 96.5% (1.022 billion KRW) of the total collected amount.

Passengers boarding the KTX train bound for Busan at Seoul Station on the afternoon of the 11th / Photo by Ho-kyung Choi hocance@

Although there are laws to penalize illegal boarding, it is difficult to enforce them on the spot. Article 10 of the Railroad Business Act stipulates that if a passenger uses a train without paying the proper fare, up to 30 times the additional fare can be charged. However, due to customer service concerns, train attendants have differing stances. When asked about a passenger who pretended to get off at Dongdaegu Station but actually went to Busan Station, a Korail attendant said, "Normally, the passenger should pay for that section, but we treat them as a mistaken passenger and just let them go." Another attendant said, "There is an issue with illegal boarding, so you have to pay the additional fare plus the ticket price," but showed a troubled expression.

Some argue that the 'no-show' problem during holidays is related to illegal boarding. A Korail official refuted this, saying, "Someone posted it online as a tip, but that's not true. If caught, the passenger is forced to get off at the next station. During holidays, ticketing on board is not allowed." Korail also took action on the first day of the special Chuseok transport in September 2020 by detecting 153 passengers who boarded without tickets, charging them 10 times the additional fare, and forcibly removing them from the train.

A post asking about free riding after failing to get Chuseok train tickets this year, with a photo showing that it was processed as a five-ride pass without additional fare [Photo by Online Community]

Every year, a ticket booking war occurs before the holiday season, but it turns out that 4 out of 10 tickets are refunded. According to the office of Yoon Jong-gun, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party, over the past five years (2019?2024 Lunar New Year), the refund rate for Korail train tickets during holiday periods averaged 41%, with 1,350,570 tickets refunded out of an average annual sales volume of 3,316,619 tickets. Especially this Lunar New Year (February 10), 1,864,739 tickets (46%) were canceled and refunded out of 4,082,452 tickets sold. Among these, 195,244 tickets (4.7%) were not resold before the train's departure and operated as empty seats. This can lead to losses for both the train operator and the public.

Rep. Yoon stated, "Refunding tickets just before departure or after the train has departed effectively causes those tickets to disappear into thin air," adding, "To reduce no-show damages, cancellation fees should be increased and resale rates improved, especially during holiday periods."

Korail has stated it will take a firm stance against illegal boarding and illegal ticket trading during the Chuseok holiday. A Korail official said, "We are strengthening monitoring and operate a report window for illegal ticket trading on the Korail website," adding, "We publicize that illegal ticket trading can result in fines up to 5 million KRW and provide train discount coupons to informants."