High-Speed Rail Passengers Reach 119 Million Last Year, Doubling in Five Years

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Reports 2025 Rail Passenger Statistics

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on January 14 that the number of high-speed rail passengers, including KTX and SRT, reached 118.7 million last year. This represents a 2.6% increase from the previous year and is the highest figure ever recorded. In contrast, the number of general rail passengers slightly decreased to 53 million during the same period.

KTX accounted for approximately 93 million passengers, while SRT had around 26 million. On a daily average, this translates to about 254,000 KTX passengers and 71,000 SRT passengers. The occupancy rates for high-speed trains reached 110.5% for KTX and 131.0% for SRT. Five years ago, in 2020, the number of high-speed rail passengers was about 61 million, meaning the figure has nearly doubled in five years.

The Ministry explained, "Overall demand for rail travel has increased, and the opening of the Jungang Line KTX-Eum in December 2024 brought in 2.75 million passengers, contributing to the growth in high-speed rail users." The Ministry added, "With additional KTX-Eum trains deployed on the Jungang Line and new services on the Donghae Line since December last year, we expect demand to continue rising this year."

A KTX train is departing from Seoul Station with passengers on board, heading to its destination. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

The most heavily used route was the Gyeongbu Line, which served 83.6 million passengers. Of these, 61.4 million used high-speed trains and 22.2 million used general trains. Seoul Station was the busiest station, with 43.9 million passengers. This was followed by Dongdaegu Station with 21.4 million, Busan Station with 20.9 million, Daejeon Station with 20.3 million, and Yongsan Station with 15.1 million.

To improve ticketing convenience for transportation-vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly, video consultation and remote support services have been introduced. New automatic ticket machines, which provide wheelchair assistance, screen magnification, and sign language services, have been installed at 148 stations nationwide. These machines support a variety of payment methods and offer multilingual features, making them user-friendly for foreign travelers.

Kim Taebyeong, Director General of the Railroad Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We will ensure safety throughout the entire process from railroad construction to operation so that the public can use rail transportation with confidence, while also expanding the regions benefiting from high-speed rail and improving services."