From
Send to

Railway services disrupted for 2nd day amid strike

Oct. 12, 2019 - 14:24 By Yonhap

South Korea's rail services were partially disrupted or delayed Saturday, the second day of a 72-hour strike, as workers demanded better working conditions.

    As of 11:00 a.m., around 76.5 percent of the country's regular rail services were operating, according to the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

 

(Yonhap)

    KTX bullet trains were operating at 72.1 percent of the normal level, while subways were at around 86.7 percent.

    Only 22 percent of cargo trains were running, they added.

    Local authorities are currently making efforts to maintain the overall rate at 73.8 percent on Saturday.

    The 19,000-member Korean Railway Workers' Union wants KORAIL to increase workers' wages and employ more staff to shorten current working hours.

    The strike kicked off at 9:00 a.m. Friday, and is currently planned to run through Monday. It is the first strike in three years, following a strike between September and December 2016.

    Workers staged rallies throughout the country Saturday, claiming that the company should make sincere efforts to provide a convenient and safe transportation service to the people. (Yonhap)