SR Corporation
SR Corporation, also known as Supreme Railways, is a South Korean rail operator that operates high-speed rail services.
The company was established in December 2013 and adopted its current name in June 2014. In December 2016, SR Corporation officially launched its SRT services on an open-access basis. By January 2021, the company's services called at 17 stations, three of which it managed directly. The merger of SR Corporation and the national passenger operator Korail has been repeatedly mooted and fallen through; presently the company remains an independent competitor to the incumbent's KTX services. Recent initiatives have included the greater use of local component production and the in-housing of rolling stock maintenance.
History
The organisation was originally established as the Suseo High Speed Rail Corporation in December 2013. It was founded with the ambition of increasing competition in the South Korean railway sector and end the monopoly on Korean passenger operations by the national passenger operator incumbent Korail. During June 2014, it was announced that the company name would be changed to SR Corporation; one month later, it joined the Korea Railway Association.In December 2016, SR Corporation officially launched SRT services, initially running between Suseo–Busan on a newly-opened high speed line. Being an open-access operator, it is charged more for track access by the Korea Rail Network Authority than those imposed on Korail's KTX services, paying 50 percent of its sales revenue against the KTX's 34 percent. SR Corporation has claimed that its presence has increased competition, driving down ticket prices and raising service quality overall, while also contributing to repay the accumulated debts from the construction of Korea’s high-speed network.
Throughout SR Corporation's existence multiple proposals have been mooted for merging it with Korail. In 2017, a taskforce organised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reviewed one such merger initiative; the terms of the envisioned merger were publicly opposed by SR's trade union. During December 2018, the South Korean government announced the revival of plans to combine the two entities.
In December 2022, it was announced that the planned merger between SR Corporation and Korail, a move that the latter had strongly advocated for, had been abandoned. During January 2023, Lee Jong-guk, SR’s newly appointed CEO, announced that the company would be pursuing greater independence from its majority shareholder, Korail; furthermore, that a comprehensive review of all existing contracts would be conducted. Specific areas of independence include a planned expansion of internal maintenance of rolling stock, including component production.