Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) announced recent survey results demonstrating high satisfaction levels among international travelers, coinciding with a rise in foreign tourists visiting South Korea.
The survey was conducted face-to-face with 301 foreign passengers at Seoul Station, Busan Station, and aboard KTX trains from May 18 to 19. Participants evaluated various aspects of the rail service across 37 categories.
The results showed an overall customer satisfaction score of 93 out of 100. Additionally, 96.7% of respondents expressed their willingness to use KORAIL services again when returning to Korea, while 97% indicated they would recommend KORAIL to acquaintances.
The primary purpose of international visitors’ trips was sightseeing and leisure, accounting for 78.4%. Other motives included visiting relatives (6.3%), business (9.6%), and education (5%). In terms of service quality, ratings for station and train facilities, as well as staff friendliness, consistently exceeded 90 points.
Among the various factors, train punctuality was the most appreciated, with 96.4% of respondents citing it as the most satisfying aspect. Furthermore, 65.5% of those with previous rail experience in their home country rated KORAIL’s service as superior to their domestic systems. Positive evaluations also highlighted punctuality (59.5%), speed (59.1%), and courteous staff (50%).
Regarding ticket purchase methods, the survey found that 45.5% of travelers used the KORAIL official website (via PC or mobile), while 11.3% utilized the mobile app ‘KORAIL Talk’. Other options included ticket windows (13%) and travel agency packages (8%).
Awareness of KORAIL among foreign visitors has increased by 6.1 percentage points from the previous year, with 60.5% reporting they knew of KORAIL prior to arriving in Korea, up from 53.4%. The main channels of awareness were internet searches (61.5%), recommendations from friends (18.7%), prior travel experience (11.5%), and travel-related YouTube videos (4.9%).
These positive evaluations are believed to result from KORAIL’s focused service improvements responding to rising foreign passenger numbers. Since June of last year, the company has operated a dedicated task force to enhance railway services for international travelers. Initiatives include multilingual website features such as seat selection, chat support in eight languages, and expanded foreign language announcements at major stations like Seoul Station, alongside the adoption of Apple Pay for convenient payment.
In the second half of the year, KORAIL plans to install automatic ticket machines at major stations across the country that accept overseas credit cards.
KORAIL’s Passenger Business Division Director, Chasung-yeol, stated, “We will continue reflecting foreign passengers’ feedback to expand our global and digital-friendly services, ensuring a more convenient experience for international travelers.”
