Train passengers reach record high of 172.2 mln in 2025

SEOUL, 14 January (BelTA - Yonhap) - The total number of South Korea's railway passengers hit a record high last year, driven by growing demand for high-speed train services, the transport ministry said Wednesday.

A total of 172.2 million people traveled by train in 2025, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The country's two high-speed rail services -- KTX and SRT -- carried a record 118.7 million passengers last year, up 2.6 percent from a year ago.

About 93 million people used KTX, averaging 254,000 riders per day, while some 26 million traveled on SRT, with a daily average of 71,000.

However, the number of conventional train passengers fell 3.6 percent on-year to 53 million last year.

The Seoul-Busan line was the busiest route, with 83.6 million railway travelers, including 61.4 million on high-speed trains.

Seoul Station was the busiest train station last year, handling 43.9 million passengers, followed by Busan train station with 26.1 million and Dongdaegu train station with 20.5 million.