General booking window extended to 5 days; priority access for mobility-impaired passengers Sept. 3-4, general public Sept. 7-11
Korail will open reservations for Chuseok holiday train tickets starting Sept. 3, ahead of the five-day holiday period in late September.
Bookings cover trains running Sept. 23 through Sept. 27 and will be conducted entirely online through the Korail+ mobile app and a dedicated holiday reservation webpage on the Korail website.
Existing Korail members will be carried over automatically, but customers registered only with SR must sign up or convert to an integrated membership through a separate webpage linked on the Korail+ app or the Korail website.
Priority booking for passengers with mobility needs
Priority booking for passengers with mobility needs runs Sept. 3 and 4, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Eligible groups are seniors aged 65 and older, registered people with disabilities under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, veterans eligible for transportation support, and pregnant women. Korail expanded the priority booking category to include pregnant women starting this Chuseok, in line with the government's low birth rate policy to improve travel convenience for expectant mothers.
On Sept. 3, tickets will be available for the Gyeongbu, Gyeongjeon, Donghae, Jungbu Inland, North Gyeongsang Province, Daegu, North Chungcheong Province and suburban lines. On Sept. 4, bookings open for the Honam, Jeolla, Jungang, Gangneung, Janghang, Yeongdong, Taebaek, Seohaean, Gyeongchun and Mokpo-Boseong lines.
Passengers must complete their priority booking within five minutes of accessing the dedicated webpage. Passengers with severe disabilities, however, are allowed 30 minutes. Previously, only members with visual, brain lesion or physical disabilities could use the 30-minute window; starting this Chuseok, all members with severe disabilities qualify regardless of disability type.
Passengers who are not comfortable using the internet may book by phone through the Rail Customer Center. Priority bookings are valid only when the eligible passenger is included in the reservation, and the passenger's name will appear on the ticket. Anyone who misuses the system — such as by not traveling on the booked ticket — will be barred from priority booking at the next holiday.
Priority booking applicants other than senior members must complete an identity verification process on the Korail website before booking day to avoid delays. Verification can be done by navigating to the Korail ticket reservation website, then selecting My Page, Member Information Management, and then the relevant certification option — disability, veteran holiday pre-booking eligibility, or the "Mom-Friendly Korail" certification — in sequence.
General booking open to all passengers
General booking, open to all passengers including seniors, people with disabilities and veterans eligible for transportation support, runs Sept. 7 through Sept. 11, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Korail extended the general booking window from three days to five and broke down the schedule by line, train type, and departure and arrival station to make the process smoother.
The schedule runs as follows: all lines' general trains — including ITX-saemaul, ITX-Maeum and Mugunghwa services — on Sept. 7; KTX on the Gyeongjeon, Gangneung, Donghae, Jungang and Jungbu Inland lines on Sept. 8; KTX on the Honam and Jeolla lines on Sept. 9; KTX on the Gyeongbu, Gyeongjeon, Donghae, Honam and Jeolla lines departing from or arriving at Suseo Station on Sept. 10; and KTX on the Gyeongbu line on Sept. 11.
For example, KTX tickets for the Seoul–Dongdaegu route will be available on both Sept. 8, when Gyeongjeon and Donghae line bookings open, and Sept. 11, when Gyeongbu line bookings open. General booking must be completed within three minutes of accessing the dedicated webpage.
Payment opens at midnight Sept. 12
Payment for Chuseok holiday tickets opens at midnight on Sept. 12. General booking tickets must be paid for by Sept. 15, and priority booking tickets for passengers with mobility needs by Sept. 18. Tickets not paid for within the deadline will be automatically canceled and reassigned to passengers on the waiting list. Passengers with mobility needs who cannot pay online may call the Rail Customer Center or visit a station ticket window. Tickets paid for by phone must be collected at any station ticket window with a valid ID before boarding.
Crackdown on ticket scalping
Korail will take a zero-tolerance approach to ticket scalping ahead of the Chuseok holiday. The operator will run undercover "mystery shopper" inspections and a dedicated scalping tip-off channel on an ongoing basis, and will revoke the memberships of anyone found selling tickets illegally. Suspected scalping cases will also be referred to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, police and other relevant authorities for investigation.
Korail President Kim Tae-seung said the company is making thorough preparations for the booking system, noting that this will be the first major holiday transport operation since the integration of the high-speed rail network. "We will prepare every step meticulously — from ticket reservations to holiday transport operations — so that all passengers can travel home with peace of mind," he said.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
