Train Tickets During Holiday Periods Over 6 Years... 4 Out of 10 Are 'No-Shows'

Over the past six years, 40% of train tickets sold during holiday periods were 'reservation no-shows' (No Show).

On the 13th, the day before the Chuseok holiday, the homecoming procession had already begun. At Seoul Station, homecoming travelers and tourists are walking along the platform to board the train. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

According to data from Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) submitted by Yusangbeom, a member of the People Power Party, a total of approximately 36.48 million tickets for KTX, Saemaeul, and Mugunghwa trains were issued during six Lunar New Year and five Chuseok holiday periods from 2019 to 2024. Among these, about 14.94 million tickets, accounting for 40.96%, were canceled by purchasers and returned to KORAIL.

To minimize reservation no-shows, KORAIL extended the penalty application time for ticket cancellations and returns from 1 hour before departure to 3 hours before departure in 2018 and also strengthened the cancellation fees.

Nevertheless, during this year's Lunar New Year holiday, out of 4,082,452 train tickets, approximately 1,864,000 tickets were canceled or returned, representing 45.68% of the total. This shows an increase in the no-show rate compared to 33.19% during the Lunar New Year holiday six years ago in 2019.

According to KORAIL, canceled or returned tickets go through a resale process. However, tickets canceled or returned after the train's departure cannot be resold and are treated as unusable, resulting in empty seats during operation.

Representative Yu stated, "The recurring train ticket 'no-shows' during holidays continue to cause inconvenience and damage to citizens," and emphasized that "fundamental institutional improvements, such as revising KORAIL's standard terms and conditions, are urgently needed."