A power supply failure occurred on the Gyeongui Line, which connects Seoul with its northwestern satellite cities, Friday resulting in disruptions to high-speed KTX and suburban train services in and around the capital.
The incident took place at 12:35 p.m. when the electricity supply on the Seoul-bound track was abruptly cut off. The Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) blocked the affected track and operated trains in both directions on the remaining track.
KORAIL speculated the accident may have been caused by an unidentified object coming into contact with a railway electrical device. The disruption also caused delays in the schedules of certain high-speed KTX and regular trains that start from Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and operate on the Gyeongbu and Honam lines.
Following the incident, 175 passengers on a KTX train were transferred to an alternative train, resulting in a delay of over an hour in train operations.
KORAIL apologized and promised to promptly restore normal operations.
“An emergency response team has been deployed and we aim to complete the recovery work by 6-7 p.m.,” a KORAIL official said.
The company expects some train services will experience delays of up to one hour.
“We apologize for the difficulty in using trains, and we are investigating the cause of the accident and the damage caused by the train delays,” the official said.
KORAIL asked passengers to consider using alternative transportation means or check the train operation status via its mobile app and website.
Source: Yonhap News Agency