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A second day of rail strikes on Thursday saw only some 44 percent of train and subway services running, with many schoolchildren already missing class or coming late at the start of the new school year. The situation was especially bad on Seoul subway lines 1,3 and 4, where double or even triple the normal number of commuters were packed like sardines on the rare trains. Freight operations fell to just 15 percent of normal levels, leaving containers and cement piled up at the teminals.
Roads were also clogged since many commuters took their cars to work instead. Express bus terminals and airports were bustling with increased traffic.
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Commuters are forced to claw their way on, and off, trains at the line one station of Shindorim on Thursday following a strike by Korean rail workers that severely disrupted operations.
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According to the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, the KTX operated 39 percent of services and regular trains including the Saemaeul Express no more than 19 percent. The subways operated at 56 percent.
The bad news was out just as early commuters were getting ready to leave home at 5:30 a.m., when a fresh round of all-night negotiations between the KORAIL in-house union and management broke down.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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