The work-stoppage order imposed on Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) after the accident in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang, that left seven workers dead or injured is expected to be lifted everywhere except the accident section after about 70 days. Train delays that had become routine since this summer, including on KTX, are expected to return to normal starting in November.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 30th, KORAIL labor and management held an Industrial Safety and Health Committee meeting on the 29th and then submitted an application to the Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office to lift the work-stoppage order. The application included labor-management agreements such as "when working on tracks, trains on adjacent tracks will also run at reduced speed."
The Daegu Employment and Labor Office must decide within four days whether to lift the order after verifying safety measures. Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "Most of the work-stoppage orders are expected to be lifted on Oct. 31." If so, operations would return to normal 73 days after the orders were issued.
Earlier, on Aug. 19, an accident occurred near the tracks at Cheongdo Station when workers conducting a safety inspection were hit by an oncoming train, killing two and injuring five. Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Labor Ministry, considering the seriousness of the matter at the time, issued a broader-than-usual work-stoppage order. A work-stoppage order is the authority to temporarily halt work identical to that involved in a serious accident when such an accident occurs.
The work-stoppage order was issued not only near Cheongdo Station, the accident section, but also across sections under Daegu jurisdiction, including the Gyeongbu Line (Sinaam–Singeo), the Gyeongbu High-Speed Line (Gimcheon-Gumi–Gyeongju), the Daegu Line (Gacheon–Yeongcheon), the Donghae Line (Oedong–Goraebul), and the Jungang Line (Moryang–Buk-Yeongcheon), spanning a total length of 454 km. The suspended work covered "all track maintenance and trackside inspection work."
As routine maintenance was disrupted by the suspension, KORAIL implemented slow-speed operations at 58 locations in the affected sections for safety. For example, sections that had been traveled at 130 kph had to be reduced to 60 kph. As a result, train delays have been repeated for more than the past two months.
As passenger inconvenience persisted, the labor office partially lifted the work-stoppage order for ▲ nighttime track work (September) ▲ maintenance performed after controlling train operations during the day (block work, October). Only "sangrye work" remains under suspension. Sangrye work refers to routine track maintenance carried out with stationmaster approval while trains continue to operate. The workers who were injured in August were also working during this sangrye operation. However, even if the work-stoppage order is lifted this time, sangrye work will continue to be suspended for the time being near Namseonghyeon–Cheongdo, the accident section.
With the work-stoppage order lifted, on Nov. the on-time arrival rate for trains is expected to recover. According to KORAIL, the overall KTX on-time arrival rate fell from 85.8% to 73.1% in the month before and after the Cheongdo accident. On the Gyeongbu Line KTX, which was directly affected, the on-time rate plunged from 78% to 62.6%.