DAEJEON — Korail has opened a forum to map out South Korea's long-term railway blueprint, from next-generation high-speed trains to carbon neutrality.
The Korea Railroad Corporation, known as Korail, held the first meeting of its Future Railway Advisory Committee at its Seoul office on the 30th, discussing key issues facing the railway industry and the direction of its medium- to long-term agenda.
The committee brought together nine outside experts from industry, academia and research institutes in fields including transportation, safety, artificial intelligence, management and business development, along with Korail President Kim Tae-seung and the heads of the company's five divisions.
Korail said it created the committee to continuously assess the fast-changing railway environment and to bring outside perspectives into its overall management.
At the meeting, the committee discussed major management issues including the development of regional revitalization models for areas facing population decline, the introduction of the next-generation high-speed train EMU-320, stronger safety measures for workers, plans to achieve carbon neutrality under K-RE100, a public-sector renewable energy program modeled on the global RE100 initiative, and steps to improve financial soundness such as boosting revenue.
The advisers agreed that the company needs to identify medium- to long-term tasks and draw up an actionable roadmap to get ahead of structural changes in the railway industry.
Yoon Wan-chul, professor emeritus at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), who was elected chair of the committee, said, "The railway industry must uphold the basic values of safety and service while responding quickly to a rapidly changing business environment shaped by artificial intelligence, eco-friendly technology and new transportation demand."
Kim said, "We will actively reflect the experts' recommendations in our management to open the way for sustainable rail."
