Rail workers' strike disrupts passenger train services

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- An extended strike by rail union workers began to take
a heavy toll on passenger train services nationwide, as the replacement staff
have been rushed to man freight trains, the Korea Railroad Co. (KORAIL) said
Sunday.
With the indefinite strike by unionized KORAIL workers entering its fourth day,
operations of passenger trains were cut back to about 60 percent of their normal
capacity, while freight train services were running at about 30 percent of
capacity, up from less than 10 percent last week, the state-owned company said in
a press release.
The union's 16,000 workers walked out on Thursday after negotiations over pay and
work conditions fell through.
"We will do everything we can to minimize inconvenience and mobilize all
available workers to operate trains as normally as possible," a KORAIL official
said.
KORAIL transferred some of its remaining staff to freight services, after their
operation rate on the first day of the stoppage dropped to 5 percent of their
daily capacity, or 15 runs compared to an average 300.
Freight services were set to rebound to 60 runs on Sunday, enlivening major
logistics hubs, such as the Uiwang Inland Container Depot near Seoul, export
freight bases on southern coasts and resuming much of the cement and coal
transportation in the central part of the country, KORAIL said.
But inconveniences by commuters and travelers are expected to continue for the
time being, as a growing number of the Saemaeul and Mugunghwa passenger trains,
cheaper alternatives to the KTX bullet train, have been canceled and delayed.
High-speed KTX train services and city subways continued to operate at normal
capacity.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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