Signaling error causes KTX train to jump tracks
A KTX bullet train broke apart after screeching off its tracks near Gangneung, Gangwon, on Saturday morning,
injuring over a dozen passengers on board. The Seoul-bound train carrying 198 passengers derailed five
minutes after departing Gangneung Station at around 7:30 a.m, while traveling at a speed of 103 miles
per hour. All 10 of its cars went off the rails, with the front two cars splitting off and coming to a rest at
oblique angles to the tracks. 15 passengers were taken to a nearby hospital after suffering minor
injuries from the accident. Operations to remove the derailed cars began immediately on Saturday
evening and continued through Sunday amid freezing temperatures in Gangwon. Over 300 personnel
were deployed for the recovery operation, along with several cranes. The exact cause of the accident,
which came less than a year after the Seoul-Gangneung KTX line was opened ahead of the Winter
Olympic Games in nearby Pyeongchang in February 2017, is believed to have been a faulty signaling
error, according to an initial assessment by Transport Ministry officials. The accident occurred at a
juncture where a single track leading to Seoul diverges into two separate tracks headed to
Gangneung and Yeongju, North Gyeongsang. A faulty signal did not properly convey that the
tracks had not yet been switched, said Oh Young-sik, CEO of the train’s public operator, the
Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail). Korail shut down KTX train services between the capital
and Gangneung, leaving dozens stranded in the northeastern province.
The recovery operations were expected to be completed on Monday morning. The accident came
as a shock to both Korail and the government, since only three days earlier Prime Minister
Lee Nak-yon dressed down the company for mismanagement following two other mishaps in
Busan and North Chungcheong. “We would like to extend our sincere apologies to the people with
regards to yet another accident,” said Transport Minister Kim Hyeon-mee in a lengthy apology
given at the accident site on Sunday. “The fact that such a major accident has occurred testifies
to how imprecise operations have been at Korail.” Saying that Korail had “lost the trust of the people,
” Kim vowed that the government would take appropriate measures with regards to the company’s
management, a statement some analysts say could mean the ministry intends to sack Oh -
a former ruling party lawmaker - as Korail CEO. The political opposition, headed by the Liberty
Korea Party (LKP), used the accident to criticize the current administration. The LKP floor
spokeswoman, Song Hee-gyoung, on Saturday said that over a third of Korail’s top management
are political appointees linked to the ruling Democratic Party (DP), who she claimed have “little
experience or understanding of railway operations.” Another LKP lawmaker, Hong Chul-ho, cited
a Korail report that showed there have been 661 train-related accidents between 2013 and last
July, with 109 of those accidents involving KTX bullet trains. Among the 51 accidents that
occurred this year, 22 of them - 43.1 percent - were caused by mechanical errors that
ranged from outdated infrastructure to breakdowns. Hong, who is a member of the legislature’s
land, infrastructure and transport committee, said that Korail should focus on preemptively
monitoring possible mechanical faults rather than trying to fix problems after they have
already occurred. This latest accident, the biggest railway disaster this year, also raises
doubts about the government’s grand plan to connect South Korea’s railroads to the
North and export the country’s rail systems abroad.