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More than 80% of SRT tickets no longer available for Lunar New Year holiday period

Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 21:00

A Super Rapid Train operated by SR stops at Suseo Station in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 8, 2025. [YONHAP]

Millions of people planning to travel during the Lunar New Year holiday in Korea snapped up more than 80 percent of available Super Rapid Train (SRT) tickets in advance, operator SR said on Thursday.

A total of 267,000 of the 329,000 seats available were sold during a four-day reservation period that began on Monday, the state-run operator said. The booking rate reached 81.2 percent, up 5.7 percentage points from last year’s rate of 75.5 percent.

This year’s Lunar New Year holiday runs from Feb. 14 to 18.

Outbound travel demand peaked on Feb. 14, when bookings on southbound routes reached 95.7 percent, SR said. Return travel demand was highest on Feb. 18, with bookings hitting 97.4 percent.

By route, the Gyeongjeon Line recorded the highest booking rate at 95.2 percent, followed by the Jeolla Line at 92.9 percent, the Donghae Line at 83.8 percent, the Gyeongbu Line at 82.1 percent and the Honam Line at 76.6 percent.

Passengers must complete payments for reserved tickets by midnight on Sunday. Tickets booked during priority sales on Monday and Tuesday for passengers with mobility challenges must be paid for by midnight next Wednesday. Unpaid reservations will be automatically canceled.

Unsold seats went on general sale through the SRT mobile app, the company’s website and ticket counters at stations from 3 p.m. on Thursday.

An information notice regarding ticket reservations for Super Rapid Train services during the Lunar New Year holiday is posted at Suseo Station in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 28. [NEWS1]

The operator is attempting to curb illegal ticket resales during the holiday by opening a reporting channel for such cases and setting up hotlines with three online secondhand marketplaces — Karrot, Bungaejangter and Joonggonara — to monitor listings in real time. Individuals who resell tickets at inflated prices will be referred to investigative authorities, SR said.

During the busy travel period from Feb. 13 to Feb. 18, SR plans to operate more trains to increase seat availability by about 11,000 as part of special transport measures.

“We will make every effort, including thorough vehicle inspections, to ensure that passengers can travel safely and comfortably during the Lunar New Year holiday,” said Jeong Yeon-seong, the head of SR’s sales division.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]