Оңтүстік Кореяның «Мугунхва-хо» пойыздары

Class of trains in South Korea

The Mugunghwa ho (hangul=무궁화호) is a class of train operated by Korail, main railway operator of South Korea. Mugunghwa trains are Korail's slowest tier of trains stopping at a number of towns and villages, and operating over a number of lines that are not served by other trains. Journey times are generally twice that of KTX trains and 25% longer than ITX express trains. Along rural lines such as the Gyeongbuk Line, Mugunghwa ho remain the only class of passenger train operating. They (and in some cases the Tonggeun) are the only trains to stop at many stations not served by Saemaeul ho or KTX trains. Mugunghwa are built to accommodate large numbers of standing passengers, and frequently have many more standees than sitting passengers during high season.

In 1980, new express train, named Udeung (우등, literally meaning Premium), was introduced. It was renamed Mugunghwa ho, which was the name of an express train formerly operating in the 1960s. Today, all long distance train classes that were formerly below Mugunghwa have been retired, thus Mugunghwa trains are now the cheapest class of trains to operate cross country. The Mugunghwa ho takes its name from the hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of South Korea.

On March 28, 1993, a Mugunghwa ho train in the vicinity of Gupo station in Busan rolled over due to the collapse of a section of track caused by unauthorized tunneling below the track by the Samsung Engineering & Construction company. The derailment killed 78 people and 198 more were injured, making it the worst rail accident in the history of South Korea. On April 22, 2016, a Mugunghwa ho 9 car train which departed Yongsan station at around 10:45 p. m, and headed for Yeosu Expo station on the Jeolla Line, was derailed at 3:41 a. m on a curved track intersection while approaching Yulchon station. Five out of nine cars were derailed, and two toppled down, damaging parts of the railway electrification system. The engine car toppled away from the tracks, one engine driver was killed, 7 passengers were injured and a secondary engine driver was injured. 23 people were known to be onboard the train. Upon derailment, it is known that the train crashed into an unknown object. According to Korail engineers, the locomotive was operating at 127 km/h on the curved railway intersection. As the train was approaching a platform, it was designated to operate under 50 km/h when approaching stations. After further analysis on the train's data and voice recorders, the accident seemed to be occurred by the engine driver. Legal measures are to be taken on the two engine drivers. The remaining four cars were moved away from the tracks, and the destroyed rail electrification pylons were recovered in 25 hours.