A Korail employee conducting shunting operations to connect and disconnect trains at Uiwang Station in Gyeonggi Province was crushed by a train and died.
The accident occurred around 7:20 a.m. on August 29. A man in his 50s, Mr. A, met with an accident while coupling or uncoupling a locomotive and freight cars.
This is not the first such accident. Why do fatal accidents keep recurring at the same workplace?
3-Line Summary
1. A Korail employee died during shunting operations at Uiwang Station
2. It is the fifth accident since Obong Station in 2022
3. Whether safety rules were followed is still under investigation
7:20 a.m., What Happened at Uiwang Station
Around 7:20 a.m. on August 29, a report was received at Uiwang Station on the Gyeongbu Line located in Samdong, Uiwang City, Gyeonggi Province, stating that "an employee appears to have been crushed by a train." Upon receiving the report, firefighters who arrived at the scene discovered Mr. A, a man in his 50s belonging to Korail, lying crushed under a train. Mr. A was already in a state of traumatic cardiac arrest and died at the scene.
Mr. A was a full-time Korail employee and was performing shunting operations connecting or disconnecting a locomotive and freight cars at the time of the accident. Shunting refers to the work of coupling, uncoupling, or exchanging cars to form trains or moving them to necessary locations. A shunter is the person who stands around the tracks and communicates signals with the locomotive driver via radio to support the work. It is known that Mr. A met with an accident while performing this role.
Immediately upon discovering the accident, Korail deployed an initial response team and informed relevant agencies including police, firefighting authorities, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. To prevent further accidents, all shunting operations at Uiwang Station were suspended, while passenger trains passing through Uiwang Station continued normal operations. Korail stated that it would proceed with follow-up measures in accordance with established procedures and with the utmost respect. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport also sent the director of the Railroad Bureau, railroad police, railroad safety inspectors, and Korea Transportation Safety Authority inspectors to the scene to support accident response.
Why Must It Be a Team of Two?
Shunting operations are dangerous because workers must exchange signals right next to moving cars or between tracks. The rules regarding the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Standards stipulate that shunting locomotive drivers and shunters must communicate using established signal methods and move vehicles accordingly. In essence, it means that not just a single worker, but a locomotive driver and shunter—at minimum, a team of at least two—must work in coordination.
The Seoul Railroad Special Police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor are intensively investigating whether these safety rules were actually followed at the time of the accident. Korail also stated that it is verifying how many workers were deployed at the accident site. While regulations exist, whether those regulations actually functioned at the moment of the accident has not yet been confirmed.
Recurring Accidents, Not a First
This is not the first accident involving worker deaths or injuries at Korail work sites. In November 2022, at Obong Station in the same Uiwang City, two Korail employees were injured or died during freight train shunting operations. It was reported that at that time, the accident occurred when the locomotive driver was using a mobile phone.
In August 2024, at Guro Station in Seoul, employees were struck by an inspection and maintenance equipment vehicle, resulting in 2 deaths and 1 injury. In February 2025, at Geundeok Station in Gangwon, a contractor worker performing maintenance work was struck by a train and died. In August of the same year, on the Gyeongbu Line in North Gyeongsang Province, a Mugunghwa train struck seven workers, resulting in 2 subcontractor workers dying and 5 being injured. Adding this Uiwang Station accident, the same type of accident has recurred five times within four years.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport stated that it will thoroughly investigate the cause of this accident, take strict measures according to a zero-tolerance principle, and prepare strengthened railroad safety measures to eliminate the structural problems underlying recurring accidents. However, the specific details of the measures or their implementation timeline have not yet been announced.
Again, the circumstances of this accident will only be revealed once the investigation by the Special Police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor is completed. This accident again reveals the distinction between reviewing regulations and ensuring those regulations can be followed at the work site.
References
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