[Report] "I Really Didn't Know"…KORAIL Takes Action to Eradicate Subway Fare Evasion

Nearly 330,000 Fare Evasion Cases Last Year
KORAIL Launches Intensive Crackdown from the 23rd
Using Big Data to Monitor Fraudulent Users

"I really didn't know."

At around 5 p.m. on the 25th, Seoul Yongsan Station was visited. A passenger who passed through the ticket gate was seen handing their transportation card to a companion on the opposite side. When the companion tried to enter the gate using the card, a voice announcement echoed throughout the station saying, "This card has already been used for boarding." When a station staff member approached to stop them, a hurried explanation followed: "I thought one transportation card could be used for multiple passengers, just like on the bus."

On the 26th, a station staff member at Suseo Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is conducting fare evasion inspections in front of the ticket gate.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) has taken strict measures as it suffers huge losses every year due to fare evasion. From the 23rd, KORAIL launched a joint crackdown with eight metropolitan subway operators in the Seoul metropolitan area over four days.

On that day, Yongsan Station staff formed pairs and guarded two ticket gates. They closely observed the LED lights on the gates each time passengers tagged their transportation cards. The LED colors help identify unauthorized use of concession transportation cards. When a concession card is tagged at the gate, a red light appears on the LED. Regular customers see a green light, teenagers blue, and children yellow, distinguishing the card types by color.

A Yongsan Station staff member approached a male passenger in his 20s after a red light appeared on the LED when he tagged his card at the gate. The purpose was to verify whether the passenger qualified for a concession transportation card issued to seniors aged 65 or older, persons with disabilities, or veterans. The passenger showed a disability welfare card and then passed through the gate.

Some passengers confessed to fare evasion before being caught. A woman in her 20s approached a station staff member and said, "My transportation card was not recognized, so I boarded the subway without tagging it," then paid for a train ticket on the spot.

On the 26th, station staff at Suseo Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, held up banners to passengers to eradicate fare evasion.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

A Yongsan Station staff member explained, "Customers who report the facts in advance and request payment on the spot are called 'good faith no-ticket' customers. For fare evaders, a penalty fare 30 times the single-ride fare is added, but for good faith no-ticket customers, only the single-ride fare is collected."

On the other hand, some cunning passengers try to avoid detection by targeting less crowded times. On the morning of the 26th at Suseo Station on the Bundang Line, a station staff member said, "Teenagers using children's transportation cards are often caught during early dawn or afternoon hours when there are fewer eyes watching. There were also cases where foreign tourists, having heard rumors about cheap train fares, shared teenage transportation cards."

The staff member added, "The most common excuses from caught fare evaders are that they had no cash or that they didn't know."

KORAIL suffers financial losses due to such fare evaders. Last year, KORAIL recorded 329,959 fare evasion cases. Of these, about 327,000 passengers voluntarily reported their fare evasion, but around 2,000 passengers were fined for unauthorized use of discount tickets or traveling without a ticket.

Station staff also face considerable difficulties during enforcement. One staff member lamented, "Some passengers caught evading fares express dissatisfaction by yelling, cursing, or even assaulting station staff."

KORAIL has launched comprehensive measures to eradicate fare evasion. To improve enforcement efficiency, it recently began utilizing big data containing records of free transportation card usage. A KORAIL official explained, "If a specific free transportation card is repeatedly used during weekday rush hours, we intensify enforcement. Additionally, we produce banners and posters to promote fare evasion prevention."