Even in the Digital Age... 1 in 13 Elderly People Bought Holiday Train Tickets Offline

Offline Ticket Purchase Rate Among Those Aged 70 and Over Is 15 Times Higher Than That of Teenagers
Elderly Prefer In-Person Train Ticketing During Holidays
Digital Divide Evident in Train Ticket Purchases and Daily Life Services

One in 13 elderly people aged 70 and over purchase holiday train tickets offline at stations rather than online.

According to data submitted by Korea Railroad Corporation to Yeom Tae-young, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the offline ticket issuance rate for those aged 70 and over during last year's Chuseok was 7.7%. Earlier, during last year's Seol holiday, the offline ticket issuance rate for the same age group was 8.1%. This means that during last year's holidays, one out of every 12 to 13 people aged 70 and over went directly to the station to buy tickets. The offline ticket issuance rate for those aged 70 and over during Chuseok 2023 was 9.2%.

An online reservation notice is posted in front of the ticket office at Seoul Station on the 20th of last month, when online reservations for train tickets during the Lunar New Year holiday began. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

The offline issuance rate among the elderly was up to 15 times higher compared to teenagers.

During last year's Chuseok, the offline issuance rate for customers aged 19 and under was only 0.5%, indicating that most customers aged 19 and under booked tickets online. The offline ticket issuance rate for those aged 19 and under during last year's Seol was 0.6%, showing about a 14-fold difference compared to the 8.1% issuance rate for those aged 70 and over. Similarly, during Chuseok 2023, the offline issuance rate for those aged 19 and under remained at 0.6%, about one-fifteenth of that for those aged 70 and over.

Assemblyman Yeom said, "Since the rate of on-site train ticket purchases by the elderly is 15 times higher than that of teenagers, it is necessary to strengthen services within stations for the elderly who are less familiar with smart devices."

Meanwhile, according to a 2023 survey on digital usage among the elderly in Seoul, most elderly people used social networking service (SNS) messengers (91.8%) and video platforms such as YouTube (83.1%). This is because using these services is relatively easy. On the other hand, when it comes to practical daily life areas such as transportation and service reservations (14.5%), civil complaints and tax processing (12.3%), and product purchases (25.6%), the elderly's usage experience was found to be significantly lower.