Every fare, timetable, and operating hour on this site is checked against the official operator, and this page lists those operators so you can check them yourself. When a number on a blog, a forum, or this site disagrees with the operator, the operator is right. Korean-language pages are updated first, so when the English and Korean versions of a site disagree, trust the Korean one.
Trains between cities
KORAIL runs KTX and the slower ITX, Mugunghwa, and Nuriro trains. The official site is korail.com. The older address, letskorail.com, now redirects there. Fares and seat availability are shown at booking time, so the reliable way to get a current price is to start a booking for your date and read the fare before paying.
SRT trains from Suseo (수서역) are ticketed at etk.srail.kr. Fares appear on the search results screen once you enter a date and route.
Seoul subway and buses
Seoul Metro publishes fares, first and last train times, and station facility information at seoulmetro.co.kr. The vocabulary list at the end of this page covers the Korean menu labels you will need.
TOPIS, the Seoul city traffic center at topis.seoul.go.kr, is the official source for Seoul bus routes and real-time arrivals. The route numbers and stop names there match what you see on the bus stop signs.
Transit cards
T-money is the card you tap on subways, buses, and most taxis. The operator's site is tmoney.co.kr. It covers where to buy, how to load, refunds, and which cities accept the card. Card prices and loading limits change occasionally, so check the current numbers there rather than relying on a screenshot from a travel forum.
Airports
Incheon International Airport publishes bus routes, bus stop numbers, taxi stand locations, and the AREX timetable at airport.kr. The transport section is the one to check on the day you land, because bus routes are added and dropped through the year.
Korea Airports Corporation runs Gimpo, Gimhae (Busan), Jeju, and the other domestic airports. Their transport pages live at airport.co.kr.
AREX, the airport railroad between Incheon Airport and Seoul Station, has its own site at airportrailroad.com. The older arex.or.kr address redirects there. The express and all-stop train timetables and fares are both published on it.
Busan
Busan bus information is at bus.busan.go.kr, the city's official bus portal, with route maps and real-time arrivals.
Tourism information
The Korea Tourism Organization runs an English portal at english.visitkorea.or.kr. It is a good second source for how to reach a specific attraction, but for fares and timetables go to the operator listed above, because tourism pages are updated less often than operator pages.
Reading Korean-only pages
Most of the operator sites above have an English version, but the English pages lag behind and sometimes omit fare tables entirely. Two habits solve most of this:
- Open the Korean page and use your browser's built-in translation. Chrome on Android and desktop, and Safari on iPhone, both translate a page in one tap.
- Learn the handful of words that label the numbers you need: 요금 (fare), 운임 (fare, on trains), 시간표 (timetable), 첫차 (first train or bus), 막차 (last train or bus), 노선 (route), 환승 (transfer), and 할인 (discount).
Gotchas for foreigners
- Some Korean sites block or slow down connections from overseas. If a page will not load before your trip, try again once you are in Korea, or use a search engine's cached copy for a rough idea and then confirm on arrival.
- Booking sites may ask for a Korean phone number or a Korean payment method. Reading fares and schedules never requires either. Only the final purchase step does, and there are workarounds for that on the KTX and SRT booking pages of this site.
- Fare tables on official sites are in Korean won only. This site adds an approximate US dollar figure next to each fare, but the won figure is the one you will pay.