Seoul Metro Calls on Assembly Transport Committee Chair to Share Free-Ride Losses

Seoul Metro met with National Assembly Transportation and Land Infrastructure Committee Chair Yoo Eui-dong to request swift review and passage of a pending Urban Railway Act amendment that would require the government to share losses from free-ride transport, as well as increased national funding for urban railway safety.

Labor and management representatives from Seoul Metro and Incheon Transit Corp., acting on behalf of six urban railway operators nationwide, held a meeting with Yoo at the National Assembly main building Tuesday morning.

Seoul Metro was represented by President Kim Tae-kyun and Seoul Metro Labor Union Chairman Kim Jeong-seop.

At the meeting, the labor-management representatives stressed that while free-ride transport on urban railways is a nationwide welfare program mandated by national laws — including the Act on Welfare of Older Persons and the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities — the costs are borne entirely by local governments and the operators themselves. "A transition to a three-way cost-sharing structure in which the government, local authorities and operators each bear a reasonable share of responsibility is necessary," they said.

They also urged active support for the swift passage of a pending Urban Railway Act amendment currently before the Transportation and Land Infrastructure Committee — jointly sponsored by Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Jeong Jun-ho and Min Hong-cheol and People Power Party lawmaker Lee Heon-seung — which would establish a legal basis for government funding.

The representatives also raised the issue of policy parity with Korail, which receives national government subsidies for its free-ride losses under the Framework Act on Railroad Industry Development.

In addition, Seoul Metro asked that safety-related national budget allocations for urban railways cut from the 2027 government budget proposal be restored. The operators said national fiscal support is essential, as their own revenues alone cannot cover annual reinvestment costs in the range of 1 trillion won ($743 million) — including upgrades to facilities that are 40 to 50 or more years old and replacement of aging rolling stock.

Last year, free-ride transport losses across the six urban railway operators nationwide totaled 775.4 billion won, accounting for 52.1 percent of their combined net losses.

"The six urban railway operators nationwide are at a breaking point in terms of the fiscal burden from free-ride transport, and the situation is one where essential safety investment could be curtailed," Seoul Metro President Kim Tae-kyun said. "We hope the National Assembly will take an active role in ensuring the swift passage of the Urban Railway Act amendment so that the public can use urban railways more safely and comfortably."