Railways are a part of the transport network in South Korea and an important mode of the conveyance of people and goods, though they play a secondary role compared to the road network. The network consists of of standard-gauge lines connecting all major cities with the exception of Jeju City on Jeju Island, which does not have railways; of the network, are double-tracked and are electrified. In 2018, rails carried 11.5 percent of all traffic in South Korea134.8million passengers and 30.9milliontonnes of freightwith roads carrying 88.3 percent.

Passenger and freight services are primarily provided by the Korea Railroad Corporation, branded as Korail, a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, although some rail lines and services, including high-speed intercity rails and metropolitan rapid transit, are operated by private companies. The Korea National Railway (formerly the Korea Rail Network Authority), another state company under the Transport Ministry, is responsible for constructing and maintaining the railway infrastructure, with Korail and other rail operators paying track access charges to Korea National Railway. Both Korail and Korea National Railway were created in 2004–2005 after the government decided to split the state-owned Korean National Railroad.

History

Korean Empire and Partition

Rail transport in Korea began in the late 19th century. On March 19, 1896, the late Joseon Dynasty that ruled Korea awarded American engineer James R. Morse a concession to build a railway between Seoul and Chemulpo (today Incheon), while on July 4, the French company Compagnie de Fives - Lille represented by Antoine Grille received another concession to connect Seoul and Wonsan by rail, later modified to run from Seoul to Uiju as the Gyeongui Line instead. Construction on the Chemulpo line begun on March 22, 1897, under the management of American businessmen Henry Collbran and Harry Bostwick on behalf of James Morse, but after Morse was unable to secure the necessary funding, he sold the concession to a Japanese company headed by Shibusawa Eiichi; the sale went into effect on December 31, 1898. The line was inaugurated on September 18, 1899, between Chemulpo and Yeongdeungpo on the south bank of the Han River, with the section to Seoul opening on July 9, 1900, after the construction of a bridge across the river. Additionally, on February 1, 1898, the Seoul Electric Company (today Korea Electric Power Corporation) was founded to manage electricity generation in Seoul, as well as to build tram lines in the city. The first tram line was opened on May 20, 1899, between Seodaemun and Dongdaemun (today two districts of Seoul), before the Seoul-Chemulpo railway, becoming the first railroad on the Korean Peninsula. The French surrendered their concession in 1899 for the Gyeongui Line having been unable to raise the capital necessary to fund construction, with the Korean government in turn founding the Northwest Railway Bureau and agreeing to finance building the rail to Uiju with French support. On May 8, 1902, construction started on this line under the name Northwestern Railway, from Seoul to Uiju through Kaesong and Pyongyang, with completion in 1905 under the supervision of the Japanese military.

Japan's influence on railway development in Korea begun even before Japan's occupation of Korea in 1910. On September 8, 1898, the Korean government awarded a concession to connect Seoul and Busan by rail to a Japanese company. The Japanese government in 1901 founded the Seoul‑Busan Railway Corporation to oversee construction, however, due to delays, the Japanese government took direct control of the project in 1903. Construction lasted from August 21, 1901, to December 27, 1904, with operations beginning on January 1, 1905; in the early years, the rail trip between Seoul and Busan took almost 14 hours. This and other railway lines were constructed by Japanese companies and the Japanese military to facilitate Japanese troop movements across the Korean peninsula during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905 and Japan's subsequent expansion into Manchuria before and during World War II. Roadways played a secondary role to railways in Japan's military plans.

To manage the rail infrastructure and services, on July 6, 1906, the Japanese created the Railway Management Bureau under the administration of the Japanese Resident-General of Korea. On September 1, 1906, the Railway Management Bureau was merged with the Temporary Military Railway of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Gyeongbu Railwayby then the only privately owned railway operator in Koreato create the National Railway Administration, renamed the Korea Railway Administration on December 16, 1909. After the Japanese annexed Korea in 1910, on October 1, the administration became the Railway Bureau of the Government-General of Korea. This operated for the first few years as an agency under the direct control of the Governor-General's secretariat, then from July 31, 1917, to March 31, 1925, under the management from the South Manchuria Railway, finally becoming and independent agency on April 1, 1925, as the Chōsen Government Railway.

Following World War II and during the divided occupation of Korea, from September 14, 1945, to September 7, 1948, the United States Army Military Government in Korea operated all railroads in Korea. A state-owned company was established on September 7, 1948, to take over operating the railways from the American military. The railroad network was badly damaged during the Korean War, but it was later rebuilt and improved by USATC.

South Korea

Between 1948 and 1963, the Korean government exercised direct control over the country's railways. To provide for more independent operations, on September 1, 1963, the government established the Korea National Railroad, an independent agency of the Ministry of Transportation. This agency was in charge of all rails throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and continued electrifying and double-tracking heavily used tracks. The first electrified test rail track in the country opened on June 9, 1972, a stretch between Gohan and Jeongseon on the Taebaek Line; the first fully electrified line was the long section between Jeongseon and Cheongnyangni on Jungang Line, opening on June 20, 1973.

However, government investment in railways continued to decline as a share of total investment in transportation modes, from 61 percent of all investment during the first five-year plan of 1962–1966 to 10 percent during the sixth five-year plan of 1987–1991. Roads and highways were the primary beneficiaries of this decline. While new tracks were constructed, due to the closure of tracks the length of the country's rail network only increased from in 1962 to in 2000. In comparison, the road network grew from to during the same time period.

Railroads in the 1980s were useful primarily in the transportation of freight, and they were important for passenger traffic around Seoul and in the heavily traveled corridor linking the capital with the southern port of Busan. Although the railroad system grew little during the 1980s, rail improvementsthe increased electrification of tracks, replacement of older tracks, and the addition of rolling stockallowed rail traffic to boom. Some of the busiest lines south of Seoul linking the capital with Busan and Mokpo had three or four tracks. The 1980s also saw the introduction of high-speed trains connecting Seoul with Busan, Jeonju, Mokpo, and Gyeongju. The famous "Blue Train" (Saemaul-ho) between Seoul and Busan (via Daejeon and Daegu) took only four hours and fifty minutes and offered two classes of service: first class and special. In 1987 approximately 525 million passengers and were transported by the railroad system.

Rapid transit

While investment in railroads between cities languished in the 1960s–1980s, railroads in cities continued to receive attention. Announced in 1965, the first line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the first rapid transit system in South Korea, opened in 1974. Lines 2–4 followed in subsequent years as part of the first phase of construction, but construction on lines 5–8the second phasewas postponed in the 1980s and only started in the 1990s. Of the four planned lines in phase three, only line 9 was built, partly through a public-private partnership. As of 2021, the lines are operated by Seoul Metro, formed through the merger of Seoul Metro Corporation and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation in 2017. Outside of Seoul, subways opened in Busan in 1985, Daegu in 1997, Incheon in 1999, Gwangju in 2004 and Daejeon in 2006.

KTX

The government decided to invest in Korea's first high-speed rail to ease traffic congestion between Seoul and Busan. With more than two-thirds of the country's population, passenger traffic, and freight traffic concentrated in the corridor connecting the two citiesand a new expressway built in the 1970s failing to solve traffic problemsseveral studies commissioned by the government in the 1970s proposed building a high-speed railroad. Construction became a priority in the 1980s, when it was included in the 1982–1986 five-year plan.

Planning started before the government decided on the rolling stock. In 1991, Korea sent a request for proposals to Japan, France and Germany, all countries with successful high-speed railways with the Shinkansen, TGV and ICE, respectively. While initially favoring the Japanese Shinkansen, Korea selected the TGV as its preferred rolling stock as the Japanese were hesitant to transfer their technological know-how to the Koreans, with the French willing to do so. The French also agreed that after building the first few train sets in France, the rest would be built in Korea with involvement from Korean companies.

In March 1992, the government created the Korea High Speed Rail Construction Authority to oversee the construction of the Gyeongbu High Speed Railway (Gyeongbu HSR). Construction started on June 30, 1992, before choosing the vehicle. The initial completion goal was 1998; lack of experience, frequent redesign, difficulties in purchasing land, and the IMF crisis delayed the entire project. As a result, Korea Train Express (KTX) service began April 1, 2004. Since its opening in 2004, the high-speed rail service has halved the demand for air transport on this corridor which used to be one of the busiest direct air routes in the world.

Reform and private rail companies

Private investment in railways in South Korea before the mid-1990s was nominal. Between 1968 and 1994, only 12 rail projects with a total combined cost of US$660 million received private investment, but the operation and management of all remained in government hands. In 1994, to encourage private investment in infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships, the South Korean parliament adopted the Promotion of Private Capital in Social Overhead Capital Investment Act, followed in 1998 by the Act on Private Participation in Infrastructure and in 2005 the Act on Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure given the limited impact of the first law. PPPs can take the form of build–operate–transfer, build-lease-transfer, and build-own-operate delivery models and can be controlled by either the national or local governments. After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, several government-driven railroad construction projects were reviewed, postponed, redesigned, revoked or turned into build-operate-transfer projects. Several companies, including Macquarie Group, Shinhan Bank and Hyundai, have participated in the projects. Notably, AREX and Seoul Metro 9 are in operation, with the Seohae Line due to open in January 2023. However, due to the continuing deficit, most shares of Airport Express Co. were taken over by Korail. Several private railroads, such as Shinbundang Line, BGLRT, and Everline, have begun service as well.