South Gyeongsang adds 6 weekend high-speed rail trips on Gyeongjeon Line from September

South Gyeongsang Province announced Monday that high-speed rail services on the Gyeongjeon Line — which has long suffered from chronic seat shortages — will increase by six runs per day on weekends starting Sept. 1. The expansion follows the government's integrated KTX-SRT operating plan.

Under the new schedule, weekday services on the line will grow from 32 to 38 runs, while weekend services will rise from 40 to 46. The operating structure will also shift away from the existing KTX-SRT split system toward a unified framework organized around Seoul-bound and Suseo-bound services.

Suseo-bound trains, which are key to reaching the southeastern part of the Greater Seoul area, will double on weekends from four to eight runs. The change is expected to ease the difficulty passengers have faced securing tickets, as supply has long lagged behind demand for travel to the Gangnam area.

The Gyeongjeon Line also secured a significant share of the nationwide expansion. Of the 26 additional weekend runs the government allocated across nine high-speed rail lines nationwide, six — or 23 percent — went to the Gyeongjeon Line.

South Gyeongsang Province said it had submitted 25 formal requests to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korail and SR Corp. since last year to push for the expansion. In the first half of this year alone, provincial officials visited the relevant agencies 16 times to make the case for more services.

Passengers will also benefit from the integrated operating system in other ways. The province said KTX fares will be adjusted to match SRT levels, resulting in an average reduction of about 10 percent, and KTX mileage points — worth 5 percent — will now be cross-credited on Suseo-bound segments as well.

The local business community welcomed the news. The South Gyeongsang Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council and other business groups said they expect the change to partially resolve the recurring difficulty of securing tickets for trips to the Greater Seoul area for business meetings and work travel.

"This expansion gives some breathing room from the severe seat shortage we have endured," South Gyeongsang Governor Park Wan-su said. "However, it still falls short of fully resolving the chronic lack of seats, so we will continue pushing for further increases in line with the completion of the Pyeongtaek-Osong double-track expansion in 2027 and the launch of KTX services from Incheon and Suwon."