When seats are sold out, we would like to share how to reserve and ride the SRT. If you are looking for related information, please refer to the text.
Starting with
SRT has established itself as one of the two major high-speed trains along with KTX. It seems that the number of users has increased accordingly. However, it is also true that as the number of users increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to reserve seats.
What should I do if something urgent comes up and I need to use SRT, but all seats are sold out? If it’s really urgent, you should go at least standing room. However, unfortunately, SRT does not officially sell standing tickets on its website or app. However, it is not impossible if you use a little trick.
In this article, we will explain in detail the three ways to reserve SRT standing tickets.
3 ways to reserve SRT standing room tickets
As mentioned at the beginning, there are three ways to reserve SRT standing tickets. I will explain them one by one, but if you are in a situation where you must purchase a standing ticket, I recommend that you apply them in order.
Step 1. Purchase a combined ticket
The first method is to purchase a combined ticket. What is a combined ticket? Some people may say that. To put it simply, it refers to a ticket that combines ‘standing + seating’.
For example, assuming you need to take a train from Suseo Station to Busan Station, many people will search for ‘Departure: Suseo > Destination: Busan’ on the SRT reservation screen. Many people give up when it says seats are sold out. At this time, you can search for combined tickets.
One thing to note at this time is that you cannot search for combined tickets on reservation sites such as Naver. I don’t know the exact reason, but I recommend that you search for combined tickets on the SRT website. Let me explain further by looking at the image below.
SRT-Standing-Reservation-Method-Merge-Ticket-Naver-Screen
This is an image viewed on Naver for the ‘Suseo > Busan’ train as of the afternoon of October 26, 2023. Train No. 371, which departs at 20:28, is sold out and the reservation screen is not active. Also, the next train and the next train are all sold out. That means it’s completely sold out. Now let’s look at the next image.
SRT-Standing-Reservation-How-to-Merge-Ticket-Homepage-Screen
Likewise, train No. 371 departs at 20:28 pm on October 26, 2023, and the ‘Standing + Seating’ button is activated. That means you can still reserve combined tickets.
If you click that button, you will be taken to the reservation screen and will be able to make a reservation separately for seats and standing seats. Train No. 371 above is a seat-only train until Dongdaegu, and the rest is a standing-room only train. However, since combined tickets sell out quickly, it is recommended to reserve tickets right away if there are any remaining.
If you were unable to reserve a combined ticket, you must proceed to the next method.
Step 2. Purchase a standing ticket at the station window
The second method is to purchase a standing ticket at the SRT station counter. SRT does not officially sell standing-room tickets on its website, but if all seats on the train are sold out, a limited number of 15 tickets can be purchased on-site on a first-come, first-served basis.
It would be best to first go to the nearest SRT boarding station and check for remaining standing tickets. If you don’t have a standing ticket to your destination, you need to find out at least the intermediate station. If you need to go from Suseo to Busan, any intermediate station, such as Osong or Dongdaegu, is fine, so get a standing ticket and board first.
After boarding, you can find a flight attendant and apply for a ‘segment extension.’ Section extension is a method that allows you to travel to the changed destination by paying an additional fare if the originally planned itinerary has changed.
For example, if you get a standing ticket that only allows you to go from Suseo to Dongdaegu, you can request a section extension from the flight attendant and pay only the standing ticket from Dongdaegu to Busan on-site.
If you are unable to obtain standing tickets sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the station window, please refer to the next step as the last method.
Step 3. Board first, pay afterward
This is the final method. If you can’t purchase a combined ticket and a standing ticket at the station window, just board the train at the time you want. And all you have to do is find a flight attendant.
Find a flight attendant, explain the situation, and pay for a standing ticket on the spot to your destination. You don’t have to worry because you won’t be asked to get off for a free ride. Let’s take a look at the SRT travel transportation terms and conditions below.
SRT-travel-transportation-terms-additional fares
If you look at Article 10 ‘A’ of the SR Passenger Transport Terms and Conditions, it states that ‘if you board without purchasing a ticket due to time constraints, etc., but report it to the flight attendant.’ In other words, you can board the flight by notifying the flight attendant and paying the additional fare.
However, if you board without a ticket, you will have to pay an additional 0.5 times the normal fare for unauthorized boarding, so please use it only when you really need to board in a hurry.
In conclusion
Above, we learned about ‘3 ways to reserve tickets for SRT’. Although I said at the beginning that it is a bit of an expedient method, it is not a very unreasonable method. The best way is to reserve a seat and board with plenty of time to spare.
However, since things do not always go as planned, I hope you only use the methods described in the text, especially the third method, only when you are in a real hurry, and I will end this article here.