Public concern flares over safety of KTX-Sancheon

Korail president under fire for remarks downplaying recent accidents

By Lee Hyo-sik

A series of breakdowns and a derailment involving Korea’s latest bullet train, the KTX-Sancheon, in recent months have placed Korail, the state-run railroad operator, and its CEO Huh Joon-young under growing public scrutiny.

In the aftermath of the mishaps, KTX passengers have become uneasy about the safety of the nation’s bullet train system, with many opting to take a bus or other means of transportation.

Additionally, frequent breakdowns of the KTX-Sancheon, a model which was developed and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem using domestic technology, is feared to negatively affect Korea’s efforts to win multi-billion dollar projects to construct a bullet-train system in Brazil, the United States and other countries.

But a bigger problem is that CEO Huh and senior Korail officials are not taking seriously the series of KTX glitches, which experts say could lead to fatal accidents in the future.

Since the new KTX model was put into operation in March last year, there have been at least 18 operational malfunctions, igniting concerns regarding its capability and passenger safety, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

On Feb. 11, a KTX-Sancheon train derailed near Gwangmyeong Station in Gyeonggi Province on its way to Seoul from Busan, the first derailment since bullet trains were introduced into Korea in Feb. 2004. Subcontractors’ improper maintenance and Korail’s mishandling of faulty signal equipment caused the derailment.

Another KTX-Sancheon train bound for Seoul from Busan on Feb. 25 stopped for about 45 minutes in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province thereby halting operations of a dozen other KTX trains heading to Seoul and causing inconvenience for passengers.

Korail has been replacing aging KTX trains manufactured by France-based Alstom with the KTX-Sancheon since March 2010. It has claimed that the new train operates more efficiently and provides passengers with a more comfortable ride.

The KTX-Sancheon has been operating on a bullet-train only line linking Seoul and Busan. Alstom-manufactured KTX trains traveling to Mokpo from Daejon operate on a conventional railway, which the Sancheon cannot run on at full speed.

``At first, I wanted to try the latest KTX train because I heard it had more comfortable seats. But now I don’t want to be on that train.

Following a series of breakdowns and the derailment, I do not even feel safe about taking older ones either. From now on, I will take an express bus when I go to see my parents,’’ a 32-year-old female office worker said.

Lacking a sense of seriousness

Despite growing public concerns, Korail CEO Huh and other officials have not taken the matter seriously, only saying the latest derailment and frequent delays are not a big deal.

On Feb. 25, Huh said in an interview with a local broadcaster that no one has been hurt seriously as a result of the malfunctioning KTX trains, insisting that incident on Feb 25 was not an accident. He even said it is normal for trains to stop when signals malfunction.

Facing growing public anger over his remarks, however, the CEO held a press briefing Monday, apologizing for his ``safety-complacent’’ statements. ``Korail will place top priority on safety. We will make every effort to ease public concerns over the safety of KTX trains,’’ Huh stressed.

Many experts attribute a series of glitches dogging the KTX-Sancheon to a combination of technical problems, improper maintenance, and poor personal management.

``The KTX-Sancheon is now undergoing a stabilization phase, which means the train is being adjusted to the railways and the operational environment. Surprisingly, the KTX-Sancheon has had fewer glitches, compared to other bullet trains manufactured by other countries,’’ said a managing director at Hyundai Rotem, who did not want to be named.

Korail should put passenger safety above anything else, he stressed, adding at least one Hyundai Rotem technician is onboard all operating KTX-Sancheon trains to more timely and effectively cope with potential malfunctions. ``It is fortunate that there has been no single human casualty. We will make every effort to stabilize the latest KTX trains as soon as possible and make them operate problem-free,’’ the managing director said.

Manpower reduction

Additionally, the Korail labor union has been blaming the company’s manpower reduction in repair operations, which slashed the facility checkup frequency. A union official said since CEO Huh took the office in 2009, Korail has dismissed a total of 5,115 workers, most of who were in charge of repairing and checking electricity, signals, railroad tracks and train cars. He also argued that Korail has been disregarding safety under the name of management and efficiency improvement.

The managing director of Hyundai Rotem also expressed concerns that a series of KTX glitches could adversely affect the company’s plan to export bullet trains overseas. ``For instance, Japanese media outlets usually do not publish negative stories about Shinkansen even when the problem occurs in a bid to help Japanese companies and railway operators win more business overseas. It is just unfortunate that all the local media outlets rush to criticize KTX whenever a minor glitch occurs. It only helps our competitors,’’ he said.

Korail has teamed up with the Korea Rail Network Authority, Hyundai Rotem and many local construction companies to build bullet-train systems overseas.

They are currently competing with rivals from Japan, China, France and other countries with high-speed train companies to win a contract in Brazil to undertake a $20 billion rail project. The Korean consortium is also trying to win a bid to build a bullet-train system in the U.S. state of California and in various developing countries around the world.