Howdy all! Today a little look at the KTX service I took from Busan to Seoul in May last year. The KTX train is a fast train that travels the 417 kilometres of tracks from Korea’s southern city of Busan to the capital Korea. The time can vary from 2 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 25 minutes.

I booked my ticket online and found myself on KTX 34 leaving at 13:04 and arriving at 15:48 for a total travel time of 2 hours 44 minutes, which makes an average speed of 153km per hour. So not a slow train at all but there are others faster on the route too clearly – 2hrs 15min would be 185 km/ph. But still it’s a pretty effective and quick way from one city to the other and I was excited to see what it was like.

I paid a total of 62,790 Won on the website 12GoAsia which I have personally found to be a good option when booking train travel in Asia, although it often doesn’t give you seat choice which I like to have to ensure a window seat! That works out to be around $43USD at the moment for a second class ticket on high speed rail, so it’s pretty decent value for money.

The two stations I used in Korea, Busan and Seoul, are big. There is a ticket office at the stations and you can definitely buy your ticket there, but I like to plan in advance and so I can tell you if seats were available for those rocking up at the station 20 minutes before departure or not. There are a lot of trains also on this route, so I imagine you can get on a train not that long after you turn up if you wanted.

I headed through the station at Busan, with this huge space with shops and services and the like, to my platform where the train was waiting. I entered my carriage which wasn’t far from the end of the escalator and found my way to my seat. It was a two-two configuration and some seats were facing backwards to make a foursome facing each other.

There was something a little dated about the carriage. It was full after about the second stop after Busan which wasn’t far outside the city, and it did feel a little cramped. The tray pulled out from the seat in front and was solid, the leg room was okay for me but for a taller person knees could get bumped a little.

We moved off on time, and I got to see a fair bit of the Korean countryside although there were also miles and miles of tunnels too, which in itself was impressive. I could see any town or city of note was just full of high rise apartment buildings which really is common all through the country. It is super common for Koreans to live in big apartment buildings. It was also very green and not flat at all.

I didn’t leave the carriage so I never investigated if there was a restaurant car but I am pretty sure there wasn’t. Nor a person with a trolley selling snacks so if you are taking this train you may need to stock up before you leave.

The scenery was not varied so there’s not a lot more to report on that account, the 40 minute ride to the airport actually is much more interesting over loads of bridges and water. The price is excellent though, the toilets are fine. Far cheaper than a Shinkansen, but a Shinkansen is faster and more comfortable.

But this is probably an unfair comparison because all in all the KTX was a very decent train journey, and there is I believe a first class if you are prepared to shell out extra money for it. For the price though this is a great option. Do take the time to check out my vlog on the experience too!

Thanks for popping by today! Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!