An SRT prepare waits at a platform inside Suseo Station in Seoul, Dec. 8. Yonhap
Korea’s plan to merge its two high-speed rail operators, Korea Railroad (KORAIL) and SR Corp., has changed into a dispute between events, with the federal government and KORAIL touting client advantages whereas SR questions the information behind these assertions.
SR, the state-run operator of SRT companies from Suseo Station in Seoul to 29 locations nationwide, argues that the merger would hurt the nation’s railway business by eliminating competitors between the 2 operators.
KORAIL, along with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is transferring forward with preparations for the merger. The operator of KTX companies, which serve 77 stations throughout eight routes, maintains that integration would ship better advantages to passengers.
Since Dec. 10, the SR labor union has issued a collection of statements condemning the federal government’s merger roadmap. Staff on the firm, established in 2016, say competitors between KORAIL and SR has been a key driver of service enhancements and business development, warning {that a} merger would undermine honest market competitors.
The union additionally mentioned that the continual seat scarcity on SRT companies — cited as a important justification for the merger — can’t be resolved just by integrating the 2 operators. It additionally pointed to KORAIL’s money owed amounting to about 22 trillion received ($15 billion).
SR posted gross sales of 714 billion received final 12 months and has round 680 employees. KORAIL recorded gross sales of 6.53 trillion received in 2024 and has roughly 32,000 staff. Whereas SR generated billions of received in working revenue final 12 months, KORAIL reported an working lack of greater than 111 billion received throughout the identical interval.
“The federal government’s merger roadmap, with a completion goal set for subsequent 12 months, is superficial and fails to deal with the underlying structural issues,” the SR labor union mentioned. “What the business wants shouldn’t be a merger however new laws to make sure honest competitors between the 2 operators and to construct sustainable competitiveness.”
The union additionally rejected KORAIL’s declare that the merger would create 16,000 extra seats for passengers, saying the state rail operator has not disclosed the way it calculated the determine.
“The scarcity of seats on SRT companies shouldn’t be the results of the 2 firms working individually however of the federal government’s flawed evaluation of public demand for SRT trains,” the union mentioned.
KORAIL’s headquarters in Daejeon / Courtesy of KORAIL
The SR labor union warned that the merger may result in an all-out suspension of prepare companies if employees on the merged entity had been to stage a walkout. It additionally pointed to KORAIL’s weak monetary situation, saying that permitting the corporate to monopolize the business by the merger could be “harmful.”
“KORAIL has benefited from varied authorities incentives, together with precedence entry over SR to carriage depots and stations, rolling inventory upkeep and leasing, and railway utilization,” the union mentioned. “Regardless of this assist, the corporate continues to hold heavy debt. If an operator like KORAIL monopolizes the business, security and effectivity in prepare operations, in addition to service high quality, might be threatened.”
KORAIL, in the meantime, has stored a low profile, coordinating with the federal government on the timing of an in depth plan to bolster the merger’s legitimacy. A KORAIL official mentioned the corporate is able to addressing all points raised by SR however has agreed with the federal government to not “provoke SR with arguments.”
The official added that the merger plan is irrevocable, agreed upon by the federal government and KORAIL.
Explaining how the merger may generate 16,000 extra seats, the official mentioned KORAIL carried out simulations primarily based on deploying KTX trains to Suseo Station. KTX-1 trains — the primary KTX mannequin launched in 2004 and primarily based on France’s TGV — have 955 seats, in contrast with 410 seats on SRT trains.
“By deploying a KTX-1 prepare to Suseo Station, we are able to function a further spherical journey departing from there,” the official mentioned. “This could additionally save about an hour at Busan Station that’s at the moment wanted to scrub and put together an SRT prepare sure for Suseo.”
The official dismissed the SR union’s warnings of a possible walkout and a whole suspension of prepare companies, saying emergency operations are all the time ready for such eventualities.
“Railways are a vital public service in Korea,” the official mentioned. “We’re required to keep up minimal operations even throughout walkouts, which permits us to function about 90 % of normal subway companies and 80 % of high-speed rail companies.”
The federal government introduced the merger plan on Dec. 8, saying it goals to launch a unified reserving platform for KTX and SRT companies by subsequent March and full the mixing of the 2 firms by the top of 2026.
To allow the brand new reserving system, the authority mentioned it’ll add Suseo Station as a brand new cease for KTX trains departing from Seoul Station. The ministry mentioned the brand new hyperlink between the 2 main stations will enhance prepare companies on the route and enhance seat availability for customers of each programs.
