Korea has a lovely rail system that allows for a convenient and simple way to travel between cities, even all the way across the country. This mode of transport remains my favorite way of travelling around Korea as train rides often take you through the breathtaking Korean country-sides and mountains. Always comfortable, clean, and usually right on time (at least in my experience), the Korail system makes traveling across the country both simple and fun! For those of you not familiar with train-travel, or simply are unfamiliar with the Korail way of travel, I hope to provide some insight.
Firstly, it is possible to book train tickets online. Using the Korail website, you can select your cities of departure and arrival, the date, whether you wish to travel first class or economy, and select a time for departure from the timetable. Additionally, you can select the type of train (such as KTX, KTX-Mungunghwa, ITX-Saemaeul, or SRT); some offer slightly faster trips and, of course, varying times. If you find yourself taking trains frequently while in Korea, you may develop a preference for one of these trains given their slightly differing set-ups and levels of modernity; however, from my experience, none of them could be classified as “bad,” or were even noticeably better than the others. However, I would advise you to do some price and trip-time comparison between these options. I personally went for whatever the first option time-wise was, and did not spend time assessing which train would provide a faster or cheaper trip.
The benefits of booking online include the ease of online payment (in my experience, even foreign cards are accepted online, something not always true of in-person booking), the stability of having transport concretely determined, and the convenience of an electronic ticket (rather than a physical copy). While this is a very simple process when booking tickets for a train ride between Seoul and other large cities, there may be challenges that arise when you are attempting to travel between smaller cities. For example, taking a train between Daegu and Busan should be simple given the prominence of both cities as well as their more thoroughly developed transportation systems. However, if travelling to/from or between more rural regions, such as Gokseong and Gurye, you may notice that the process is slightly less simple and requires a few more steps. Namely, you may face a transfer or even scheduling nuances that can certainly be handled online; however, for the less confident traveler, waiting to purchase your ticket at the station, where a Korail employee can help you figure out what the shortest and most convenient route from point A to B is, may be a better choice. Note, however, that many Korail employees do not necessarily speak English so this too might prove to be a challenge for you in and of itself.
Buying tickets in-person varies in difficulty depending on the popularity of a station. If travelling through a high-traffic station, you’re likely to see big, electronic signs with both Korean and English announcements and plenty of departures to the common destinations; some of the smallest, most rural stations do not feature electronic signs and offer more limited departures. Regardless of where you are travelling through, it is simple to buy a ticket in-person; even with limited Korean, you can easily request a ticket by either simply providing the arrival location and time frame you are seeking, or by showing a translation if you are unfamiliar with the words necessary to get your point across. Oftentimes, the clerk will turn their monitor to show you the screen displaying the time and transfer options for the locations you have selected. If the train is a direct one, you will receive a printed ticket that displays the time of departure and arrival, the fee, and your assigned seat. If you have a transfer, you will receive either a single ticket or two separate ones which detail the same information for both stops; you may be facing ten minutes between trains, or a couple of hours—and if you feel that you need more flexibility, when booking at the station, you can arrange for a larger gap between trips. I would recommend finding a medium length transfer time option, one that will give you flexibility in case your first train is running late, but not so late that you are stuck waiting in the station for hours.
Many, if not all stations, include ticket machines where you can select and book your ticket on your own; unfortunately, in my experience, these machines do not usually accept cash or foreign cards, though this may not always be the case. I personally did not choose to utilize these machines because of this factor, so I cannot provide much detail beyond this.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING PAYMENT: some stations can easily accept foreign credit cards, whereas some I travelled through seemed unable to do so. Whether these incidents were merely a fluke or a common occurrence, you should carry cash at all times in order to be able to purchase your ticket if your card fails. With all this in mind, if you feel confident about your knowledge of Korea and are comfortable with online booking, going through the Korail website is a fairly simple and convenient process, especially for those who like to plan in advanced.
Once you have acquired your ticket, you may have a bit of a wait until departure. If this is the case, you may have the opportunity to grab a coffee, some snacks, and even a whole meal possibly! Many of the larger train stations feature cafes such as Dunkin Donuts or Korean chains such as Paris Baguette, where you can pick up a drink or baked goods before your journey. Central stations may have restaurants ranging from shops offering quick eats like the popular Korean dish Kimbap (a seaweed-wrapped, meat and/or veggie-filled rice roll) to full service sit-down options. Most stations, at the very least, have convenience stores where you can buy something to eat before your departure, pick up essentials (like masks or feminine hygiene products), or reload your transit card (if you are using buses while travelling). Keep in mind that not all stations include these spots, so I wouldn’t recommend banking on them.
Whether or not you choose to seek out a snack before boarding, you may still have to bide some time before heading to the tracks. Most small to medium sized Korean train stations will block access to the tracks until shortly before departure for safety purposes. Larger stations that have many tracks are unable to restrict entry in this fashion, so at such stations you could theoretically wait for your train at the tracks even an hour beforehand.
If you find yourself disallowed from waiting near the platform, you will typically find plenty of seating to rest on; as with most locations in Korea, these waiting areas too are currently more restricted due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, but I did not face much of an issue even with the more limited availability. I did take note of the fact that electrical outlets in the waiting rooms were not the easiest to come by, so it would be wise to arrive at the station with your necessary devices fully charged. Additionally, I noted that Wifi access was hit-and-miss, and I found myself unable to use my devices that do not have cellular data in many of the stations I travelled through.
Whether you’ve had to wait for a bit or are able to board almost immediately after booking, you will need to check your ticket for the specific train number. You can then use this information to check the departure sign to determine what track you should walk to. The signs often also have listed the type of train (like Mungunghwa or KTX), the departure time, and whether there is a delay, all of which can be used to further verify that you are heading towards the right train.
In some of the smaller stations, ones where the signs were not as clear to me, I often verified the track number when I was purchasing my ticket. I would encourage you to get to the tracks sooner than later in order to be ready to board as soon as the doors open—people oftentimes force their way into the cars quickly, so you have to be ready to either do the same or keep out of the way. Regardless of your tactic, the period to board is brief, often only a couple of minutes maximum, so you have to be timely.
I am not entirely sure as to what degree this fact is influenced by COVID, but most of my train trips featured a surprising amount of social distancing. Oftentimes, my ticket would have the seat listed simply as something such as Car 3, Seat 21—with no letter attached to the seat; in such cases, I would have two seats—directly next to each other—to myself.
This was a dream, as it allowed for plenty of leg space as well as the opportunity to store my jacket, bags, and suitcase next to me rather than in one of the storage compartments; this seems a silly thing to be excited over, but the leg space was wonderful for longer trips, and the storage space was ideal for the short trips that required me to grab my belongings to get moving again shortly after settling in. I did see several cars during my travels that included seating that was arranged in pods (two sets of seats facing each other) rather than the forward-facing rows; however, I was never placed in these and as such gave this option little thought. Be mindful of this potential, though, and if you are adamantly opposed to this seating possibility, you should make sure to specifically request placement in forward-facing seats in the standard, forward-facing-only rows.
While most trains I rode featured socially-distanced seating assignments, the overall exception came when I booked a trip on a train during rush hour. At this point, my ticket denoted a specific letter next to the seat number, indicating not only a specific set of seats, but also the exact seat I needed to sit in (such as 21C). I cannot lie, these situations were more stressful as, when those trains are busy, they are quite packed—you can kiss social distancing goodbye! Luckily, this was a rare occurrence and if you travel outside of rush hours, for now, you can expect a decent amount of space for yourself.
I mentioned luggage storage, so I figured I’d go ahead and expound on that. I have mentioned before that I travelled light, though likely not nearly as lightly as some of you may like to travel. I lugged around a “carry on” size, rolling suitcase for the duration of my trip, in addition to my backpack, and even this proved to be inconvenient at times. On trains, aside from the fun you’ll have running up or down the stairs with your luggage if you’re rushing to a platform or hoisting your bags up the relatively steep entry stairs of the train, you’ll also get the pleasure of figuring out where you’d prefer to store your stuff. Generally, the Korean trains offer storage space at the linking points of the cars, right next to the exits. These are often metal-bar shelves upon which you can place your suitcase(s).
For your smaller items, there is typically shelving above the seats, so you can keep personal items closer by. However, as I said, whether it be a COVID-related thing or a general practice, seats are typically booked as spread apart (laterally) as possible, so there is a very high chance you’ll have no seat partner. If this is the case, you can get away with storing all of your belongings directly next to you! I typically kept my suitcase in the leg-room area of my neighboring seat, then placed my bags and jacket on the seat itself. This made for convenient boarding and exit as I did not have to budget extra time for double-checking each spot to ensure I hadn’t left anything, nor did I have to grab things from three different spots.
Lastly, if you are concerned about the safety of your stuff on the train, namely, if you don’t feel entirely confident about leaving your luggage unattended near the exit, don’t worry! Korea is, generally speaking, a very safe, trustworthy place, and it is not uncommon to see Koreans leave their electronics, wallets, keys, and more unattended for decent chunks of time in public spaces. Of course, it is always wise to be cautious, but I would not feel overly panicked about this and personally felt very comfortable with leaving the luggage at the designated spots.
If you are concerned about knowing how to get off at the right stop or generally navigating the train, here are some insights and tips. The trains themselves are simple to navigate given that the signs for things such as no smoking, the bathrooms, exits, and so forth are depicted with images as well as words. Announcements are made in Korean exclusively (those done by the train’s staff, not automatic messages), but stop announcements are typically made in Korean first, followed by English. Major stops, such as Seoul Station, will often be announced in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese. Unlike the subways, where the next stop is announced by an electronic sign, the trains typically rely simply on the verbal announcements, so you have to be listening. To make sure you don’t miss your stop, I would encourage you to pull up your trip on KakaoMaps or Naver Maps (showing you the route from your starting point to your destination as well as where you are on that route) so that you can track how close you are getting to the arrival point—when you really need to start paying attention! At the very least, make sure you are paying attention to the estimated arrival time listed on your ticket (which is usually exact) and know the name of your destination station well so you can listen for it.
Regardless of how you plan on making sure you get off at the right station, when (and if) you notice the stop announcement, you should begin gathering your belongings and heading towards the exit. I oftentimes got prepared even before the announcement was made (something I was able to do since I tracked the journey with Naver Map), especially if my luggage was not right next to me as when those exit doors open, it’s a bit of a chaotic rush to leave.
A side note, and not something I can speak to intimately, but is something I think may be worth mentioning—the standard trains often do not have seat tables/desks extending from the chair ahead of your own. Rather, some (possibly most, but again, I lack certainty regarding figures) feature cars designated for lounging or working (I believe these are called Café cars).
These cars include breakfast bar style tables which are attached to the walls and better accommodate laptop usage, writing, and other such activities. I noticed many students and business men utilizing these cars when I happened to pass through them. I do not believe these spaces are specifically reserved, but rather think the seats here are first come, first served; however, this is something to get clarification on when purchasing your tickets. If you feel the need to get some work done there, if you feel comfortable, you can simply leave your belongings in your assigned seat! I watched many fellow passengers leave their bags (even purses!) in their seats for even an hour at a time to take calls, run to the restroom, and more. All that being said, if you are a traveler who has a bit of business to take care of along the way, these cars may afford you an opportunity to knock some work out during a longer-term trip.
Here are some final considerations. If you need to utilize your travel time as work time, be mindful of the fact that few of the trains feature tray tables and electrical outlets (I know that business class KTC train cars do include both), and if you require these features, I would browse the Korail site for further specifics on the features of each train. Additionally, if you require extra leg room for any reason, or have larger baggage/supplies in tow, seats at the front or back of each car include plenty of space in front of or behind the seats respectively; if you are seeking this configuration, make sure to request this when booking your ticket. Lastly, if you tend to get hungry and thirsty while travelling, the trains include vending machines for both snacks and drinks. However, I would encourage you to take care of your sustenance needs before departing due to COVID-19.
In summary, trains make for an excellent, convenient, and (in my opinion) super fun way to get from here to there in Korea! With bathrooms and vending machines, you mustn’t fear a longer travel time, and the clean and comfy cars allow for a pleasant ride!
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