Even After Spending 400 Billion Won, Korail Fails to Receive Trains... Operating Aging Trains 'Precariously' [2024 National Audit]

ITX-Ma-eum 358 Cars Contracted, Only 100 Cars Received

Existing Deliveries Not Received, Yet 116 New Cars Contracted with Same Company

Assemblywoman Kim Eun-hye: "Korail's Soft Response Problem"

Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) has been revealed to have paid an advance of 400 billion KRW but has not received ITX-Maum train deliveries for several years.

At the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit held on the 11th at KORAIL headquarters in Daejeon, Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party, stated, "Due to the delay in delivery of the trains, KORAIL is operating 222 Mugunghwa-ho cars that have exceeded their 25-year service life by extending their usage period by 5 years."

She added, "Because of the delivery delays, one out of every two Mugunghwa-ho cars used by the public is an aged vehicle that has exceeded its expected lifespan, increasingly exposing passengers to greater accident risks."

Before the detailed safety inspection of the 222 aging Mugunghwa-ho cars, parts replacement records were only 36 cases over 5 years. However, after the safety inspection was implemented, the number increased about 1.8 times to 65 cases over 4 years. The costs also surged threefold from 1.4 billion KRW over 5 years to 4.2 billion KRW over 4 years after the inspection.

According to data submitted by KORAIL to Assemblywoman Kim, despite this, only 100 out of 358 ITX-Maum train cars ordered to replace the Mugunghwa-ho have been delivered, and 258 cars have not been delivered even though the delivery deadlines have passed.

Currently, KORAIL owns a total of 409 Mugunghwa-ho cars. The 358 cars ordered as replacement vehicles account for 88% of the total quantity, and 258 cars, or 72% of the ordered quantity, have not been delivered.

The contract delivery deadlines are as follows: 150 cars ordered in 2018 with a delivery deadline of December 2021, and 208 cars ordered in 2019 with a delivery deadline of November 2022. The contracting party, Company A, has only delivered 100 out of the 150 cars from the 2018 contract. Despite these ongoing contract violations, KORAIL has only urged Company A to deliver and has taken no other measures.

The ‘liquidated damages’ penalty, which is almost the only sanction for delivery delays, exceeded 130 billion KRW as of the end of August this year, but it cannot exceed 30% of the contract amount. The contract is worth 650 billion KRW, with over 410 billion KRW already paid as an advance.

Assemblywoman Kim raised suspicions, saying, "Since the advance payment rate compared to the contract amount has exceeded 60%, even if Company A delivers the delayed trains, there is little remaining payment to be received, so it seems they are intentionally delaying delivery."

While ITX-Maum train deliveries have been delayed for years, in April, KORAIL signed a new contract with Company A, which is currently delaying delivery of 116 cars of the same model. The contract amount reaches 240 billion KRW.

Assemblywoman Kim pointed out, "Despite not receiving the trains already delayed and operating the aging Mugunghwa-ho cars by extending their service life, KORAIL has contracted again with the same company, increasing the risk of a chain of train delivery delays and accidents."

In particular, Company A was found to have violated blind bidding regulations during the additional bidding process. According to the blind bidding rules, information such as company names or representative names must be kept confidential during evaluation, but the company name was disclosed during the review, raising suspicions of unfair evaluation.

Assemblywoman Kim stated, “The reason for setting the service life of passenger cars is directly related to the lives and safety of the public,” and criticized, “Due to KORAIL’s lax response and lack of preparedness, aging trains must continue running with increasing risks.” She emphasized, “There is a need to improve contract methods and risk response systems.”