▲ The appearance of the SRT station at Suseo Station in Gangnam-gu


Suseo High-Speed ​​Railroad (SRT) train service has been disrupted for the second day due to the power supply being cut off.



Yesterday (30th) at around 5:00 pm, an accident occurred in which the electric power supply was suddenly cut off in the Tongbok Tunnel between Cheonan-Asan Station in Chungcheongnam-do and Jije Station in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, on the SRT upward line.



As the up-bound section was blocked due to this accident, the up- and down-bound trains had to use one track separately, and train operation was delayed.



Electricity supply was resumed around 11:20 p.m., about five hours after the accident.



However, for 7 hours, the operation of 150 trains, including 110 KTX and 45 SRT, was delayed by 2 hours and 10 minutes.



The aftermath of the accident continued to this day, and as 18 out of 32 SRT trains broke down, SRT Gyeongbu Line train service was reduced.



As of noon today, 17 train operations have been canceled, and combined trains (cars 1 to 8 + cars 11 to 18) that can carry more passengers are operated as a single train (car 18).



Train service was delayed by up to 54 minutes.



During operation of six SRT trains, there was a problem with the main converter that serves as an engine, and passengers had to transfer to other trains.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched a comprehensive inspection along with the investigation.



As a result of the initial investigation, it was found that the reinforcement material (non-woven fabric) fell onto the catenary during the waterproofing defect construction at the Tongbok Tunnel, causing problems with the electricity supply.



It is believed that a piece of non-woven fabric that fell on the track was sucked into a passing SRT train and caused a vehicle breakdown.



Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) was in charge of repair work.



The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs will find out who is responsible for the Tongbok Tunnel repair work and the cause of train delays through inspections by a private advisory group, and if violations of regulations such as the Railroad Safety Act are confirmed, strict measures will be taken against those involved.



(Photo = Yonhap News)