"Grab Train Tickets" Frenzy... 4 Out of 10 Bookings Canceled

Ticket Cancellation Rate Reaches 43% Over Five Years...
Many Trains Operate with Empty Seats
Refund Penalties Increased for Train Tickets Starting This Lunar New Year

As the long Lunar New Year holiday, including the temporary public holiday, ended after six days, it was revealed that 4 out of every 10 train tickets for KTX, Saemaeul, and Mugunghwa trains operated by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays over the past five years were canceled after being issued.

According to data submitted by KORAIL to Yeom Tae-young, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 33,334,107 train tickets (15,238,946 for Lunar New Year and 18,095,161 for Chuseok) were issued during 10 Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods from 2020 to 2024.

As the long Lunar New Year holiday, including the temporary public holiday, ended after six days, it was revealed that over the past five years, 4 out of every 10 train tickets for KTX, Saemaeul, and Mugunghwa trains operated by Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods were canceled after being booked. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Among these, about 15.23 million tickets, accounting for 43.3%, were canceled by purchasers and returned to KORAIL. The cancellation rate was 42.6% for the Lunar New Year with 6.49 million tickets and 43.9% for Chuseok with 7.94 million tickets. Although KORAIL resold the returned tickets, approximately 1.48 million tickets, or 4.5% of the total (670,000 for Lunar New Year and 810,000 for Chuseok), were ultimately not resold and had to be operated as empty seats. The cancellation rate (return rate) of train tickets showed a generally increasing trend over the past several years.

For the Lunar New Year, the return rate rose from 42.4% in 2021 to 44.9% in 2023 and 45.7% last year. The return rate for Chuseok increased from 38.1% in 2021 to 43.5% in 2022, 45.9% in 2023, and 45.2% last year. As the return rate increased, the proportion of tickets that were not sold again (reservation no-show rate) also showed an upward trend. The reservation no-show rate during the Lunar New Year was 3.9% in 2021, 4.2% in 2022, 5% in 2023, and about 4.8% last year. For Chuseok, the rates were 3.2% in 2021, 4.5% in 2022, 4.7% in 2023, and 4.9% last year.

Earlier, KORAIL raised the refund penalty fees for tickets starting from this Lunar New Year holiday to minimize reservation no-shows and maximize seat supply during the holiday period. Previously, only a minimum penalty of 400 won was charged up to one day before departure, but during the holiday, the penalty was increased to 5% of the ticket price. Additionally, the penalty was raised to 10% up to three hours before departure on the day of travel, 20% just before departure, and 30% up to 20 minutes after departure.