Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Calvin09]

Hey,

Was wondering if any one could give me an idea of what it might cost to travel to Seoul from Daejeon and back on a fairlyregular basis. If they wanted to join a club or team that was based in Seoul and needed to get out to practice a couple times a week. Ive heard it can take around an hour to get there, is there some kind of cheap bullet train for commuters?

Thanks

[jsk]

If I remember correctly from my past experience, for a one-way ticket it was:
KTX: 55 minutes, 21-22K won
Bus: about an hour and 45 minutes, 9-10K won
regular train (Mugunghwa): about the same as a bus, around 10K won

The KTX is convenient and a much better experience than the other two, but it can get expensive if you do it regularly.

[nick70100]

There's a lot to consider here. First, where do you live in Daejeon? And where do you want to go in Seoul?

If you live in northen Daejeon and you're going to southern Seoul the bus can actually be faster than the KTX because you will do far less commuting on both ends of the trip.

There are two different KTX routes you can take. One is from Seodaejeon Station to Yongsan Station in Seoul (cost 22,700). The other is from Daejeon Station to Seoul Station (cost 22,900). Both trips are about one hour.

You can also take the slower train (Mugunghwa) from either Daejeon or Seodaejeon Stations. The train from Seodaejeon will stop at Yeongdeungpo and Yongsan Stations in Seoul, while the train from Daejeon station will stop at Yeongdeungpo and Seoul Stations. The cost is about 10,000 and it takes about 2 hours.

There are also 2 bus routse available. Both depart from Daejeon bus terminal. One arrives at Seoul Express Bus Terminal. The other arrives at the Dong-Seoul Terminal near Kangbyeon station. Costs vary by the class of the service. There are 3 classes available. The cheapest one (with the smallest seats) are 8,000-10,000 depending on the route and the company operating. The most expensive class is about 15,000. The bus usually takes between one hour 40 minutes and 2 hours depending on traffic.

The absolute cheapest (and most time consuming) way to travel between the two cities is to take the Mugunghwa train from Daejeon to Cheonan. At Cheonan you can transfer to the Seoul Metro line 1. This will only cost about 6,000 but the trip could take as much as 3 hours depending on your destination in Seoul.

Something else you may want to consider if you are commuting between the 2 cities often is the Korail membership card. It costs 10,000 to become a member but if you ride the train often it's easily worth it. If you present the card when you purchase tickets you'll earn points which you can use for free or discounted tickets in the future.

[ATlasIAm]

ktx can be pretty expensive