Seosomun overpass restoration completed, trains to return to normal service Sunday: Korail

Train services that had faced disruptions for several days following the Seosomun overpass accident in Seoul will return to normal beginning Sunday.

The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) said Saturday that restoration work related to the Seosomun overpass accident had been completed and all train services would resume normal operations starting with the first trains on Sunday.

The number of train services currently in operation has been reduced from 758 to 643, representing 84.8 percent of normal service levels. according to Korail. High-speed trains, including KTX and KTX-Eum, have been operating 341 services out of a normal 397, or 85.9 percent, while regular trains, including ITX-Saemaeul, ITX-Maum and Mugunghwa services, have been running 302 services out of 361, or 83.7 percent of normal levels.

Korail has been sequentially replacing vehicles that had undergone temporary maintenance and bringing them into depots to conduct maintenance inspections, ensuring that all trains can resume normal operation.

Starting with the first trains on Saturday, rail operations between Seoul and Sinchon, which had been suspended, resumed, allowing KTX services between Haengsin and Seoul and Yongsan stations to restart. KTX-Eum services on the Gangneung and Jungang lines, which had been operating only as far as Cheongnyangni Station, also resumed normal service to Seoul Station.

"We will repay the public's trust with a safer and more convenient railway system despite the unavoidable reduction in train services," said Korail President Kim Tae-seung.

The accident occurred at about 2:33 p.m. Tuesday when part of the Seosomun overpass in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, collapsed, killing three people and injuring three others.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]