Korail bashed over train’s failure to stop at station

The national railroad operator received a flurry of passenger complaints after one of its high-speed trains missed a key station and made a dangerous return trip back to the missed stop late Monday.

Korail said one of its Korea Train Express (KTX) trains, heading to Busan from Seoul on Monday evening, zoomed past Yeongdeungpo Station and proceeded about 2.6 kilometers further past the southern Seoul station without stopping.

The train later moved backward to the missed station and picked up passengers before leaving the stop about 13 minutes later than the original schedule set at 7:13 p.m., the railroad agency said.

The incident occurred as the train engineer forgot to stop the train at the bustling station in southern Seoul, the railroad operator said.

"There are only two Busan-bound KTX trains that stop at Yeongdeungpo Station per day, and the engineer seemed to have been confused," a Korail official said. "After picking up passengers, the train began normal operations."

Korail Acting President Paeng Jung-goang later apologized for "causing the public inconvenience and anxiety."

He vowed to extend every effort to educate employees and tighten up oversight in order to prevent a repeat of the incident. (Yonhap)