Types of Public Transport in Korea

Trains

1. Subway

Subways are exactly like your MRT in Singapore. You tap in and board the subway at a station and get off and tap out. Above is an English Map of Seoul Subway. You can find an interactive Korean Map for subways here. There are total of five subways - Seoul (connecting to Gyeonggi as well), Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon. You are likely to use Seoul and Busan one. These five subways systems are NOT connected to each other. They are means for you to travel within the city. On average, our subways come in intervals of 6 mins during peak hours and may take up to 15 mins during off-peak. Please plan your travel in advance!

*If you have realised, there is no Jeju Island subway system. Therefore, if you go to Jeju, I usually recommend people to drive as buses can be tough to reach places that you want to go. We will cover more in "Cities" tab.

2. Railway Train (Normal Train)

Trains connect different cities in Korea. For example, if you want to travel from Seoul to Busan, you will take a train. Normal trains are cheaper but slower. You may take 4 to 5 hours to get to Busan from Seoul through a train and it will cost about 28,000 won one way.

Unlike subway, you do not tap a card (many people confuse train stations and subway stations) Instead, you will have a ticket, either physical or e-ticket which tells you your cabin number and seat number. There is nobody at the entrance of the train that will check everyone for the ticket but after your board the train, there will be random checks by the attendant who is on the train.

Another thing to take note is that your ticket does not indicate which platform the train will be on. Be at the train station at least 15 minutes before departure and check the large display screen that states "departure" and not "arrival" and look for your train number e.g.1013 and it will tell you the platform to go to. Do not be confused if the arrival city or the departure city is not the same as stated on your ticket. Sometimes the train's last station is past Busan so the arrival city is somewhere else. It means that they will stop by Busan as one of its train station stops. This also means you need to listen out for when to alight as train can make multiple stops along the way.

Sometimes, your ticket timing can be odd such as 11.43am. The train will leave 11.43am sharp so please board the train with ample spare time. Let's say that you missed a train, you can get a partial refund of your ticket at the ticketing booth!

You can buy the ticket either online or on the spot. For online purchases, you can book both normal trains and KTX trains from here. For physical ticket purchase, just go to the ticketing booth and tell where you are heading to. They may ask for which timings you prefer or what type of train (normal or KTX). During peak hours, normal tickets may be sold out so I advise that you buy a few hours in advance (does not have to be few days in advance, few hours is good enough). Normal trains are cheap but they do not operate frequently so the timings may not be favourable so I advise you plan your itinerary carefully.

*If you feel bored or adventurous, you can explore the train to find the cafeteria. There is this ONE cabin where there are vending machines and bar stools for you to sip your coffee.

3. KTX/Bullet Train

KTX and normal trains share the same train station. Therefore, similar to normal trains, you are not required to tap in or tap out any card and instead, you have to buy a ticket. KTX which is a bullet train, is fast but it can be expensive. For example, from Seoul to Busan, you can travel in 2 to 3 hours but it will cost you about 59,000 won one way. Simply put, half the time of a normal train but twice the price. An advantage is that the seats are better and they operate more frequently. I believe that it is an experience to board a KTX train in Korea. You may also realise that KTX trains operate quieter than normal trains.

*For trains, there are toilets but usually the toilet papers can run out so I recommend you carrying around toilet paper!

Buses

1. Village Bus

Village buses are about half the size of a normal bus, assuming a normal bus is the size of your single cabin bus in Singapore. Even though it is called "village" buses, they operate in cities as well but they are termed so as they drive through the neighbourhood only, going through smaller streets, unlike normal buses that drive through the main road. You are still required to tap your transport card but the fare is cheaper than a normal bus. It may be crowded to board if you are travelling in a group of more than 5, also given than village buses come at interval of 15 to 30 minutes. You will probably ride this bus if you are going to the colourful village in Busan (this will be further covered in "Cities" tab). If you go to rural areas, you may have to wait for buses up to 1.5 hours.

*Korea currently does not have double deck buses or long buses (with two cabins). Village buses can be something you can try while being in Korea!

2. Normal Bus

Most of the tourist places are close to the subway stations and you can access them on foot but there may be cases where you are required to take buses. I personally am not a big fan of buses in Korea as depending on the cities you are at, you can really experience F1 race first hand. To my knowledge, Seoul drivers are gentle drivers so you will be in good hands. Normal buses come in intervals of about 10 minutes.

3. Express Bus

Express buses look like coach buses you take to Malaysia. They connect different cities together so you usually board them at at a place called bus terminals. You have to buy a separate ticket for them. Bus terminals or small bus stops that are available to express buses have ticketing booth for you to purchase tickets. Simply let them know the time and where you are going, similar to when you buy normal train tickets. You will have a designated seat. Let's use Seoul to Busan trip as an example again. Depending on the grade of the bus, normal and premium, the fare ranges from 22,000 won to 44,000 won one way. Premium buses operate more frequently. Regardless of normal or premium, the buses take slightly more than 4 hours to reach Busan. Please take note where you take the bus and where you get down as often, each city has a central bus terminal, west bus terminal, etc..

You may be concerned, "If I want to pee in this 4 hour ride, what do I do!!!" Usually, for long bus rides, they will stop by a rest area. You will see a lot of cars parked (different from bus terminal where there will only be buses). You can go to the toilet and also buy some snacks from the convenient store or street food. Be sure to be back in time or you can always check the time with the driver too.