KTX and Trains in Korea: How to Book

Book KTX tickets on Korail’s English website (korail.com) or in the KORAIL+ app: sales open at 07:00 Korea time two months before the travel date, and Seoul–Busan costs ₩54,400 one way in standard class. You need no Korean phone number, only an e-mail address, a password and a credit card. Rules and fares were checked against Korail’s English and Korean pages on 6 October 2026; Korail changed the booking window and fares in autumn 2026, so older guides quoting one month and ₩59,800 are out of date.

Your situation	What to do
Dates fixed, booking from home	Book on korail.com as soon as sales open, two months ahead; weekend trains sell out first
Already in Korea with mobile data	Use the KORAIL+ app; app tickets can be changed once for free
Train sold out	Ask at a station ticket office for a standing ticket, or pick a train from another Seoul station
Several long trips in a few days	Compare single tickets with the KORAIL PASS
Heading to Busan from Incheon Airport	Take AREX to Seoul Station, where most Busan-bound KTX trains start

How to book a KTX ticket online

Korail sells tickets through four official channels: its website, the KORAIL+ app, ticket machines and station ticket offices (not at subway stations). The English website and the app take overseas credit cards and need no Korean membership.

On the Korail website

1. Open www.korail.com and switch the language to English (Korail’s global pages are at korail.com/global/eng). Chrome, Safari or Samsung Internet work best; on unstable hotel Wi-Fi, try mobile data.
2. Enter the departure and arrival stations, the date and the number of passengers by type (adult, child, toddler), then press Search.
3. Pick a train from the results. Each row shows the train type, departure and arrival times and the fare; choose standard or first class.
4. Book as a non-member: enter your name, an e-mail address and a password. Korail checks both exactly, including upper and lower case, so write them down.
5. Pay by credit card. The transport ministry names Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay among the overseas cards accepted for Korail tickets.
6. Open the ticket under MY TICKET with the same e-mail and password. On the train you show it live on the screen.

In the KORAIL+ app

KORAIL+ is the renamed and rebuilt Korail Talk app. It has English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese menus, and since September 2026 it searches every high-speed train in the country, including those from Suseo. Tickets bought in the app live on the phone you bought them on, so do not buy on one device and travel with another.

At the station

Staffed ticket offices sell tickets until departure and ticket machines until 10 minutes before departure. The ticket office is also where you buy a standing ticket when a train is full and where you claim a refund after the train has left.

When tickets go on sale

Tickets go on sale at 07:00 Korea time (KST), two months before the departure date. The government and Korail moved the window from one month to two months on 1 October 2026, partly because overseas visitors usually book flights about two months ahead. Online sales stay open until departure.

How early to book depends on the day you travel:

• Monday to Thursday: seats are usually easier to find, and the cancellation rules are generous, so booking early costs little.
• Friday to Sunday and public holidays: Seoul–Busan and other main routes fill first. Book as soon as your dates are firm.
• Seollal and Chuseok: Korea’s two big holidays move millions of people. For Chuseok 2026 Korail ran a separate holiday sale and limited it to registered members, so check Korail’s English Notice page well before Seollal (6 to 9 February 2027) or Chuseok (14 to 16 September 2027). Our weather and best time to visit page lists other dates to plan around.

Booking early does not make a standard fare cheaper. It decides whether you get a seat, and on which train.

How much KTX tickets cost

On 1 September 2026 Korail lowered KTX fares to the old SRT level, about 10% less on average. These are the fares Korail itself published for the change:

Route	Seoul station	Standard adult, before 1 Sep 2026	Standard adult, from 1 Sep 2026
Seoul – Busan	Seoul	₩59,800	₩54,400
Yongsan – Gwangju Songjeong	Yongsan	₩46,800	₩42,000

In practice, a Seoul–Busan return now costs ₩108,800 in standard class. For other routes, the search results on Korail’s site show the exact fare of each train; typical journey times from Seoul are in our transportation overview.

Fares for children apply automatically when you choose the passenger type:

• Children aged 6 to 12 (under 13) pay 50% of the adult fare.
• Toddlers under 6 pay 25% of the adult fare if they have their own seat. One toddler per adult travels free on a lap.

First class costs more than standard and is shown as a separate price on each train. Korail’s other discounts, such as youth, senior and frequent-traveller fares, are mostly tied to Korail membership or Korean residency, so plan on the standard fare.

Which Seoul station your train leaves from

Seoul has several long-distance stations, and since the SRT became part of Korail one search can mix trains from all of them. Read the station name on your ticket the night before.

Station	Main destinations	Notes
Seoul Station	Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and the south-east; some trains to Gwangju, Mokpo and Yeosu	End of the AREX airport railway; main hub for first-time visitors
Yongsan	Gwangju Songjeong, Mokpo, Jeonju, Yeosu	Start of the Honam line to the south-west
Cheongnyangni	Gangneung and the east coast; Saemaeul trains to Andong	Start of the Gangneung line in north-east Seoul
Suseo	Busan, Mokpo and other southern cities	Former SRT terminal in southern Seoul (Gangnam area); trains now run as KTX-Sancheon

There is no KTX from Incheon Airport. Take the AREX airport railway to Seoul Station and change there. At Gwangmyeong Station, a KTX stop just south-west of Seoul,, Korail also runs a city airport terminal where passengers flying out of Incheon can check in and drop their bags before the trip to the airport.

Train types in Korea

Korail runs almost every passenger train in the country. The fastest trains carry the KTX name; the others are slower, stop more and usually cost less.

Train	What it is	Where you meet it
KTX	The original high-speed train and the largest, with 955 seats	Seoul and Yongsan to Busan, Gwangju, Mokpo and other main cities
KTX-Sancheon	High-speed train developed in Korea; since September 2026 also runs the former SRT services	Seoul, Yongsan and Suseo to the south
KTX-Eum	Newer high-speed train with power outlets and wireless phone chargers	Gangneung line to the east coast; Jungang line between Seoul and Bujeon in Busan
ITX-Saemaeul and Saemaeul	Express conventional trains	Main lines with more stops than KTX
ITX-Cheongchun	Fast commuter-style train with double-deck cars	Yongsan to Chuncheon
Mugunghwa	The slowest and cheapest train	Small stations that KTX trains skip

Korail lists Wi-Fi on KTX, KTX-Sancheon, ITX-Saemaeul and ITX-Cheongchun trains, though the connection can be unstable. For the scenic trips on Korail’s special tourist trains, book through the Tourist Trains section of Korail’s website.

Refunds, changes and delays

Tickets bought online can be refunded online until the departure time printed on the ticket; after departure, only a station ticket office can refund them, and nothing is refunded once the train has reached your destination. The fee depends on the day of travel:

When you cancel	Monday to Thursday trains	Friday to Sunday, public holidays, Seollal and Chuseok
2 months to 2 days before	Free	₩400 minimum fee
1 day before	Free	5%
Day of travel, until 3 hours before	Free	10%
3 hours before to departure	5%	20%
Up to 20 minutes after departure (station only)	15%	30%
20 to 60 minutes after departure (station only)	40%	40%
60 minutes after departure until arrival (station only)	70%	70%

The cheapest moment to change plans is more than two days out for a weekend train and more than three hours out for a weekday train.

• Changing a ticket: tickets held in the KORAIL+ app can be changed once without a fee up to 30 minutes before departure, to a train on the same route within 7 days either side of the original date. Korail’s English site describes refunds only, so for web tickets plan to cancel and rebook.
• Refunds to overseas cards take two weeks to a month and appear on your card statement; card payments are never refunded in cash.
• Delays: if a KTX or conventional train arrives more than 20 minutes late through Korail’s fault, you can claim compensation under Korea’s consumer dispute rules. Korail’s current scale pays 50% of the fare for delays of 60 to 90 minutes, 75% for 90 to 120 minutes and 100% for 120 minutes or more.

What can go wrong

Where to next

The classic first trip by KTX runs from Seoul to Gyeongju and on to Busan. If you plan several long journeys in a few days, read KORAIL PASS: types, prices and is it worth it. For the cheaper express and intercity buses, subways and domestic flights, see the transportation overview, and for paying with foreign cards across the trip, money in Korea. Korea Field Notes has a longer step-by-step KTX booking walkthrough with conversions into US, UK and Australian dollars.