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Get on the rails

© Athan Rodostianos

Anyone who has visited Seoul can attest to the remorseless traffic and congestion that afflicts the city.

Once you get out of the high-rise and onto the tollways the situation can get worse, much worse, with journeys doubling in time as the masses escape from the urban area for a weekend dose of Korea's provincial delights.

With Korea's extensive and efficient rail network, though, the astute and well-planned traveler can avoid arduous hours spent inside buses and cars where irritability levels soar amidst the crawling traffic.

It is far more enjoyable to lounge in a comfortable reclining seat and snooze for an hour or two, or maybe just stare out the window at the countryside as it whizzes past. A ride on one of Korea's trains is a delight.

Although it has always been easy to book a seat on a train journey the Korean National Railroads website makes the whole process so much simpler for those of us with little or no Korean language.

By visiting the website at http://www.korail.go.org prospective train travelers can view a map of Korea's National Railroad network, read information on various travel destinations and check on fare prices, seat availability and timetables.

Unfortunately a seat can't be booked online but these can be attained at any number of stations where National Railroad trains depart from. The easiest way to book a seat is to go to the website and print out the timetable for the planned destination, date and time of the journey (and the return trip). It is then a simple matter of going to any of the stations that sell the tickets, showing the printout with the chosen seat highlighted and exchanging hard earned won for the numbered tickets.

The tickets sell very quickly as departure date draws near and booking ahead is essential in order to avoid disappointment or hours spent standing. On national holiday weekends the trains may be booked out weeks ahead, so it is mandatory to plan early.

There are three classes of trains that run the tracks. The Tongil-ho operates on the shorter routes, has only one class of seating (and standing tickets), is the slowest, and stops at all stations.

The Mugungwha-ho class, which has more stops, operates all the routes and is the only class with sleeping berths for those overnight journeys. Finally, the Saemul-ho or express train significantly cuts the time spent travelling by only stopping at a few stations along the way.