Land Minister Kim Yoon-duck visited the Seoul regional headquarters of Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and said safety is the foundation of rail operations. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to run an emergency response team during the early stage of the merger between KORAIL and SR and to hold daily safety meetings to manage pending issues.
Kim attended the "High-Speed Rail Integration Safety and Service Pledge Ceremony" at KORAIL's Seoul headquarters on the 3rd. "We must again impress upon the front line that the foundation of rail is always safety," he said. "This is a time when the organization and operating system are changing significantly through the merger of KORAIL and SR, so I ask you to examine even more thoroughly whether anything is being missed as duties change, and whether any risks are being overlooked simply because the work has always been done that way."
Before the ceremony, Kim offered condolences for a worker who died in an accident during shunting operations at Uiwang Station on the 29th of last month, and expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved family and colleagues. In light of the gravity of the recent accident, the ceremony was held in a subdued manner, with participants reflecting on the importance of rail safety and on responsibility at the work site as they pledged to put safety and service into practice.
KORAIL employees pledged to treat safety as their top priority, to observe basic rules and principles, and to achieve accident-free rail operations through thorough preventive activities that do not overlook even small risks. They also pledged to listen first to customers and to repay public trust by providing faster and more convenient services. The government said it plans to work with related agencies to continuously review and swiftly improve areas of the rail system that need fixing, in order to build a railway the public can use with confidence.
MOLIT and KORAIL will operate an emergency response team during the early stage of the merger and hold daily safety meetings to manage pending issues. In the field, KORAIL's in-house safety instructors are conducting guidance and inspections, and trains running on sections where driving is more difficult are operated under the supervision of veteran engineers riding along.
"Service must also change in ways the public can feel," Kim said. "Please work to reduce inconveniences from ticket booking to using stations and trains and connecting with other modes of transport, so that we can show a changed, unified railway."
