서울행 KTX 오전5시 출발…부산발 열차 정상화

31일 KTX와 무궁화호 열차가 추돌한 경부선 대구역에서 탈선한 열차를 궤도에 올리는 작업이 벌어지고 있다. 오른쪽에는 임시개통한 하행선으로 KTX 열차가 지나는 중이다. (연합)

대구에서 발생한 열차사고로 차질을 빚었던 부산발 열차 운행이 정상화됐다.

코레일은 1일 오전 5시 부산발 서울행 KTX 102호가 정상 출발한 것을 시작으로 모든 열차 운행이 정상화됐다고 밝혔다.

부산발 무궁화호 1편이 차량 연결 문제로 10여분 지연 운행됐지만, 다른 열차의 운행도 모두 정상화됐다.

31일 발생한 대구역 열차 충돌사고로 부산발 열차 운행은 늦은 밤까지 차질을 빚었다.

오후 10시 50분 출발 예정이던 서울행 KTX가 1일 0시 30분 출발했고, 일반열차 도 3시간 이상 지연 운행됐다.

서울발 부산행 열차도 4시간 이상 지연 운행돼 승객들이 큰 불편을 겪었다.

코레일 관계자는 "어제 사고 이후 단선으로 운행되는 바람에 열차가 잇달아 지연 운행됐지만 1일 오전부터는 모든 열차가 다시 정상화됐다"고 말했다.

Seoul-Busan rail traffic returns to normal after train collisions

Rail traffic connecting Busan and Seoul resumed normal operations on Sunday, less than 24 hours after collisions involving three passenger trains in a southeastern city, officials said.

Officials of Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said an early KTX bullet train leaving Busan, about 450 kilometers southeast of the capital, for Seoul departed on schedule at 5 a.m. Sunday.

They said other passengers also left for their destinations on time, except for one Mugunghwa train that had maintenance issues and was delayed for 10 minutes.

On Saturday, a KTX train and a non-express Mugunghwa train, both bound for Seoul, collided near Daegu Station, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 7:14 a.m, causing eight passenger cars from the bullet train and the lead cab from the Mugunghwa train to derail. Later in the day, another KTX train, traveling in the opposite direction toward Busan, crashed into the derailed KTX train, causing further disruption.

KORAIL reported no serious injuries or casualties from the collisions. It said the KTX train and the Mugunghwa train in the initial collision were each carrying about 270 passengers, while the third KTX train had about 600 passengers at the time of the accident.

According to KORAIL officials, the Mugunghwa train was departing from Daegu Station, while the KTX train, which doesn't stop at Daegu, was passing through the station. They said railway control systems and signals were working normally at the time of the collision, and suspected the Mugunghwa engineer might have misread signals as the slower train bumped into the bullet train before it completely passed through Daegu Station on the main line.

The accident disrupted railway services between Seoul and Busan late into the night. KORAIL officials said a KTX train scheduled to leave Busan at 10:50 p.m. Saturday was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes, while other passenger trains were pushed back by as many as three hours. Some trains leaving Seoul for Busan were delayed by more than four hours, according to KORAIL. (Yonhap news)