한국철도, 파업 기간 열차 평시의 80.2% 운행…국민 불편 최소화
Railway workers here in Korea have kicked off their 72-hour strike to demand better pay and working conditions.
And the country's railway operator KORAIL says, it's doing all it can to minimize passengers' inconvenience.
Kim Jae-hee has the details.
The Korean Railway Workers' Union began a 72 hour strike at 9 AM, local time, on Friday.
Given that the industrial action will continue until Monday morning, KORAIL has enforced emergency transportation backup plans to reduce disruptions for commuters and to ensure safety.
In preparation for the strike, KORAIL says it has been operating a 24 hour emergency transportation headquarters since Monday.
During peak commute hours, KORAIL will deploy substitute workers and military personnel to ensure trains in the capital area run as smoothly as possible.
It aims to ensure train operations in Seoul remain over 80 percent of usual levels to minimize inconvenience.
The walkout is expected to cut manpower to around 60 percent of normal levels, even with the injection of substitute workers.
During the strike, the operation rate of subways in Seoul during off-peak hours is projected to be about 88 percent of usual levels.
High-speed inter-city KTX services are expected be running at some 72 percent.
The slower Saemaeul and Mugunghwa passenger train services will run around 62 percent and 67 percent of normal levels, respectively.
KORAIL is updating information about train operations during the strike period on its official website and smartphone app.
Passengers will not be able to book tickets on trains that have been canceled as a result of the strike and messages are being sent to customers who have already made reservations on those trains.
Affected customers will get a full refund on the price of their train ticket.
The union and KORAIL have held twelve rounds of talks since May, but couldn't narrow their differences.
The union is demanding higher pay for KORAIL workers, the hiring of more workers and for safety-related staff to be more thoroughly trained.
The union says it will launch another strike in November if their demands are not met.
This is the first time in three years the Korean Railway Workers' Union has launched a strike.
There was transport chaos in South Korea in late 2016 when they walked off the job for 74 days.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.
