Pikachu comes aboard: AREX to run Pokémon autumn travel event for 24 days

Airport Railroad (AREX) is launching a themed event featuring Pikachu to mark the autumn travel season.

AREX announced Thursday that it will hold the "Pikachu's Autumn Outing" event from Sept. 18 to Oct. 11, centered on Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations, Seoul Station and its express trains.

The event is part of "Pokémon Mega Festa 2026: Pikachu's Autumn Outing," a program jointly organized by the Korea Tourism Organization and Pokémon Korea.

Timed to coincide with the Chuseok holiday and the October holiday period — when travel demand peaks — the event transforms AREX's transit spaces into Pokémon-themed experience zones.

During the event, Pokémon voice announcements will play at the express train gates of Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations and Seoul Station when passengers tap their tickets.

Platform screen doors and the interiors of express trains will also carry Pokémon designs, allowing passengers to encounter the themed content naturally as they travel.

A photo zone featuring Pikachu dressed in hanbok will be set up in the express train concourse at Seoul Station, offering foreign tourists a distinctly Korean image and domestic passengers a novel backdrop for photos.

Special express train tickets featuring Pokémon character designs will go on sale as well. Each station — Seoul Station, Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 — will offer a different voucher design, adding a collectible element to the tickets.

A stamp rally connecting central Seoul and Incheon Airport will run alongside the other activities. Participants can collect stamps at Jongno Hiker Ground, the Seoul Station city air terminal and Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations while taking in the event's various offerings.

AREX said the event was designed to leverage the line's role linking Incheon Airport and downtown Seoul, turning the journey itself into a tourism experience for both domestic and international travelers.