Korea National Railway

During the early 2000s, the South Korean government decided to split the national railroad into separate companies for operation and construction. Consequently, the Korean National Railroad was broken up into Korail (established in January 2004) and Korea Rail Network Authority (established in January 2005 and renamed to Korea National Railway in September 2020{{sfn|Im|2020}}), the former managing train operations while the latter maintains the railway infrastructure. Amongst other benefits, this change was promoted as permitting open access across the Korean railway system; Korail functioned as the incumbent operator.{{sfn|Lee|2004}}{{sfn|Pittman|Choi|2013}}{{sfn|Finger|Montero|2020|pp=137–138}}

It is responsible for the management of all railway infrastructure in South Korea, which includes the development of railway stations; these activities are governed and set by various railway policies, budget allocations, and safety standards.{{cite web |url = https://www.wbgkggtf.org/sites/kggtf/files/2023-10/Hong-Kwon%20KIM%20Oct%2018.pdf |title = Railways in Korea with Korea National Railway |last = Hong-Kwon |first = Kim |website = wbgkggtf.org |date = October 2023}} Perhaps its most high profile undertaking of the organisation is the oversight of all railway-related construction projects.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kx-d4YJYS44C&pg=PA115 |title=Trade Law and Regulation in Korea |last1=Chang |first1=Seung Wha |last2=Choi |first2=Won-Mog |date=2011 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-84980-957-3 |pages=115 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4CSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 |title=50 Praxes for Better Transport in Korea |last1=Gunyoung |first1=HWANG Sang-kyu and KIM |last2=Korea) |first2=The Korea Transport Institute (South) |date=18 December 2014 |publisher=길잡이미디어 |isbn=978-89-5503-657-2 |pages=146 |language=en}} Korea National Railway works closely with train operators such as Korail. By 2018, the organisation reportedly had an annual budget of $8 billion, managed asset worth a combined $100 billion, and had 2,194 employees working for it.

Further reform of the railways and efforts to support the presence of private rail companies on Korea's railway network occurred during the 2010s. In 2012, the then-Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs called for bids to operate high-speed trains for 15 years on the Seoul–Busan and Seoul–Mokpo lines with the goal was to end the state-owned Korail's monopoly and create competition for the state-run KTX trains, hoping to increase the quality of service and decrease fares.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Hyo-sik |date=January 12, 2012 |title=Gov't, Korail clash over KTX privatization |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/03/113_102756.html |publisher=The Korea Times}} SR Corporation, founded in 2014, won the concession to operate the trains; though Korail owns 41 percent of its shares, a teachers' pension fund and two Korean banks own a combined 59 percent of shares, with SR thus operating independently from the government and Korail.{{cite web |year=2018 |title=Shareholders |url=https://www.srail.or.kr/cms/archive.do?pageId=EN0406000000 |website=srail.or.kr |location=Seoul |publisher=SR Co., Ltd |access-date=August 21, 2021 |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120074023/https://www.srail.or.kr/cms/archive.do?pageId=EN0406000000 |url-status=live}} In December 2016, SR Corporation officially launched SRT (Super Rapid Train) services, initially running between Suseo–Busan on a newly-opened high speed line.{{cite web |title = Korea opens Suseo high-speed line |url = https://www.railjournal.com/regions/asia/korea-opens-suseo-high-speed-line/ |website = International Rail Journal |first = Andy |last = Tebay |date = 9 December 2016 |access-date = 20 January 2021 |archive-date = 20 January 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210120074049/https://www.railjournal.com/regions/asia/korea-opens-suseo-high-speed-line/ |url-status = live}}{{Cite web |last = 윤보람 |date = 20 November 2016 |title = 수서고속철 내달 9일 개통…117년만에 철도경쟁시대 열린다 |url = https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20161119044200003 |access-date = 17 January 2022 |website=Yonhap News Agency |language = ko}} Being an open-access operator, it has been charged larger fees for track access by Korea National Railway than those imposed on Korail's KTX services, paying 50 percent of its sales revenue against the KTX's 34 percent. SR Corporation has claimed that its presence has increased competition, driving down ticket prices and raising service quality overall, while also contributing to the repayments of the accumulated debts from the construction of Korea’s high-speed network.{{cite web |url = https://www.railjournal.com/policy/supreme-rail-merger-with-korail-postponed/ |title = Supreme Rail merger with Korail postponed |website = International Rail Journal |first = Andy |last = Tebay |date = 23 December 2022}}{{cite web |url = https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170714000607 |title = KTX and SR merger faces rough prospects |publisher=The Korea Herald |date = 14 July 2017}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Yong Sang |year=2004 |title=The Current State of Railways in Korea and Reform Trends |url=https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr37/f35_lee.html |journal=Japan Railway & Transport Review |language=en |publication-place=Tokyo |issue=37 |pages=35–41 |access-date=17 August 2021 }}
• {{cite news |last1=Im |first1=Jeong Hwan |date=September 9, 2020 |title=철도시설공단, 16년만에 국가철도공단으로 새출발 |url=http://biz.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2020/09/09/2020090900107.html |work=New Daily |language=ko |location=Seoul |publisher=New Daily Co. Ltd. |access-date=August 22, 2021 }}
• {{cite report |last1=Pittman |first1=Russell |last2=Choi |first2=Sunghee |date=March 2013 |title=The Economics of Railways Restructuring in South Korea |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/44992/1/MPRA_paper_44992.pdf |publisher=Munich Personal RePEc Archive |access-date=19 August 2021 }}
• {{cite book |year=2020 |editor1-last=Finger |editor1-first=Matthias |editor2-last=Montero |editor2-first=Juan |title=Handbook on Railway Regulation: Concepts and Practice |location=Cheltenham |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |doi=10.4337/9781789901788 |isbn=978-1-78990-178-8 |s2cid=226633315 |lccn=2020942921 }}

• [http://english.kr.or.kr/main.do KNR official website (English)]

{{Rail network infrastructure companies}}

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Category:Railway infrastructure companies

Category:Railway companies of South Korea

Category:Government-owned companies of South Korea

Category:Government-owned railway companies

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