Seoul, April 12 (IANS) The number of passengers using South Korea’s railroad services reached a record high of over 42 million in the first quarter of the year, data showed on Sunday, partly driven by expanded train operations and rising oil prices that reduced private vehicle use.

The number of passengers on high-speed KTX and other railroad lines across the country totaled 42.11 million in the January-March period, up 2.1 percent from 41.25 million recorded during the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and SR Corp, reports Yonhap news agency.

KORAIL said passenger numbers increased partly due to expanded services, including the KTX-Eum train on the Donghae Line between the eastern city of Gangneung and the southeastern port city of Busan, which began operating six times a day late last year.

It also cited increased service frequency on the Jungang Line, which rose from six to 18 daily trips.

Industry watchers said the increase was also due to higher oil prices stemming from the Middle East conflict that erupted in late February, which reduced private car use and boosted public transportation demand.

In March alone, the number of rail passengers reached 14.62 million, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier and 7.3 percent from the previous month, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the number of foreigners using South Korea’s railway services reached nearly 3 million in the first half of last year, nearly doubling from two years earlier, local railway operators said.

From January to June, a total of 85.09 million passengers used the railway services, with foreigners accounting for 2.84 million, or 3.3 percent, according to SR, the operator of the SRT high-speed train service, and Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the operator of KTX high-speed trains and regular trains.

The first-half figure for foreign passengers rose 13 percent from 2.5 million during the same period in 2024 and surged 99 percent from 1.43 million in the first half of 2023.

—IANS

na/