Over 1 million train fare evasions since 2019: data

An annual average of 190,926 cases of fare evasions at major train services like KTX occurred here between 2019 and July of this year, data from state-run railway operators showed Friday.

Over the last five years, officials caught an average of 4.12 billion won ($3 million) worth of illegal train rides a year, according to Korail data submitted to Rep. Yoon Jong-kun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The railway operator currently runs the high-speed KTX trains as well as the Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains.

The most frequent type of illegal ride was a passenger not having a ticket. For Korail-operated trains, there were 151,112 such cases this year from January to July, amounting to 3.79 billion won. In 3,105 cases, the passenger was found to have the wrong ticket.

Government data showed substantial losses from fare evasions for SRT trains as well, which are operated by the government-owned SR Co. An annual average of 114,683 fare evasions occurred on SRT trains, worth 1.08 billion won.

Article 10 of the Railroad Service Act states that a train passenger who did not pay the required fare shall pay a penalty of up to 30 times the fare for the distance traveled. This is applicable in all cases of a passenger not having the proper ticket for the ride, including when he or she has a ticket for another ride.

But train operators often adopt a far more lenient policy, imposing only the proper fare plus half the price of the legal fare if a conductor decides the passenger did not buy the ticket due to a simple mistake. For example, if a person is caught not having a ticket for a ride that costs 50,000 won, he or she could be asked to pay 75,000 won for the illegal ride.

In such cases, the extra fare should normally be imposed on top of the aforementioned penalty -- which in this case would be 1.5 million won -- but many conductors forego the penalty if they decide the passenger had no criminal intent.

As such, online posts share such as "valuable information for when people fail to get a ticket” have been spreading online. Such shams are often used during the holiday season when it is infamously difficult to buy train tickets, as the potential risk of having to pay an additional half of the proper fare is deemed relatively low.

"Fare evasion is a criminal activity and should not be regarded as 'tips' for easy train rides. ... A culture of properly using the railway service must be implemented to protect the rights of those who bought the tickets legally," Rep. Yoon said.