Train is one of the most fastest way to go to other cities from Seoul. There is no traffic and trains in Korea are quite accurate. In Seoul, you can reach to every train station by subway. I take ITX most frequently to go to Gapyeong, Chuncheon and other Gangwon area from Seoul. In this posting, I'll introduce about ITX Cheongchun line and how to buy tickets on your mobile phone.
About ITX Cheongchun Line
ITX Cheongchun starts from Seoul and go to Gangwondo. Yongsan station in Seoul to Chuncheon station in Chuncheon in Gangwondo. 청춘(Cheongchun) means green spring. It's an idiom meaning youth in Korean. I guessed why the train line's name is Cheongchun before. University students in Korea usually visit places where this train line goes through for picnic or membership training and doing outdoors. There are also ski resorts you can reach with this train line. Many young people visit these areas maybe that's why the line name is Cheongchun which means youth in Korean.
Daeseongli, Cheongpyeong, Gapyeong, Baekyangli, Gangchon stations are all near lake and river area. People go there for water sports or hiking, camping. Chuncheon is a city in Gangwondo surrounded by mountains and also has big lake. Sources of water supply of Han river start in this area so there are some dams and lakes. Those water flows provides nice scenery and attractions.
Carrying your bicycle
There are bike roads along side rivers. You can bring folding bicycle always. However if you can't fold your bicycle, you can only bring them in train on weekends and official holidays. There are bicycle stands on the first and last(8th) compartment of the train and you can only put your bicycles there. (Actually not only in ITX but also in subways, you can only carry bicycles on weekends and official holidays.)
Transfer to ITX from subway
ITX and subways are completely different trains. That means, you can't use your transportation card for bus and subway to take ITX. Therefore if you use subway to reach to any station and transfer to ITX, you need to tag out from the subway. If you just miss this tagging, your transportation card shows error message next time you tag or might charge extra fee.
There are tagging machine for transferring between ITX and subway in stations. Usually they are on ITX train platform or beside of ticket machine. English explanation is provided where to tag. If you miss tagging transportation card before transfer to ITX, you can ask station staff after you take off from ITX. I know this is confusing. Here is an example.
Let's say I take subway from Gunja station to go to Wangsimni station by subway and take ITX in the same station. I need ITX ticket because it's train not a subway. I need to tag out transportation card which I used to take subway before I take ITX.
If I forget to tag it and just arrive at Gapyeong station, I can ask station staff to tag out my transportation card. My card already has information that I tagged in Gunja station. Therefore I can tell I got off from the subway and transfer to ITX in Wangsimni station to any Gayeong station staff. Then the staff will fix the subway fee from Gunja to Wangsimni.
If I don't do this, then the subway system doesn't know where I get off. Then it will charge me assuming I take subway in longest distance in the subway line.
After you take subway directly from ITX, tag your transportation card first then take subways. Otherwise it will make error when you get off from the subway. Honestly it's not a big deal even if the gates doesn't work when you go out from the subway station. Station staff will come and you can just tell the person which station you took subway after ITX. Then the staff will adjust the information and you will charge the right amount of subway fee.
How to buy ITX tickets
You can buy tickets in station of course. Subway stations in Seoul which has ITX line all have ticket machine for ITX line(English available). On weekend and holiday seasons, sometimes it's not easy to buy tickets in site. If you can't get chair seat, you might get a standing room ticket.
If you use mobile app, you can buy and refund tickets with few clicks. When you register on the site, you can also get mileage. You can use the mileage like a cash when you buy tickets later. Because of these reasons I prefer buying tickets via mobile phone in advance. Of course you can use the Internet homepage too.
Download Korail Talk app. You can buy all train tickets except SRT(this line is built by private capital not like other trains). You can buy KTX, ITX tickets through this app.
Select departure and arrival station first.
Select date, time and number of passengers.
If you select 'all' it will show you every possible options.
If there is no outcome at all, that means there is no available train line between departure and arrival station. In that case you might try transfer option.
Payment will be made with card or debit card. You can also check your reservation list on this app.
If you purchase ticket on app, there is no paper ticket.
You can also purchase tickets without membership. You will use your name, phone number and 5 digits of p/w to check the reservation again on the app. Don't forget these information when you buy tickets without membership registration.
If you buy tickets via on-line site without membership, you need to print tickets on paper otherwise you can't prove you purchase the ticket later. Please remind this when you buy tickets via on-line site without Korail membership.
Popular places you can go with ITX
Daesungli and Cheongpyeong
These places are along side of Bukhangang(riv.) which is one of the main stream flowign to Han river in Seoul. There are dams and lakes so water sports are available. There are also mountains so you can hike. Pensions and airBnB are there and also some camp sites. Bicycle roads are well maintained following the river. MTB or other attractions are also popular. There are botanical garden and it's really popular during autumn with autumn colour.
Gapyeong
It also has river, lake and mountains. Some mountains have natural waterfall and we went there to hike and swim in summer. There is an island in the middle of the river. It's Nami island. It's famous with scenery and many people go there to take pictures. There are rail bike, zip line and other attractions. The island is pretty in spring with cherry blossom.
Gapyeong also has bicycle road and has many pensions and airBnB.
Chuncheon
It's in Gangwondo so the mountains are usually higher than low altitude places. It also has lake, river and bicycle road. You can easily find water sports places. Grilled chicken is kind of typical food there and I enjoy it with Makgeolli. Riding the bicycle along side of river and have dinner with Dakgalbi(chicken bbq) is quite a simple but fun plan. Chuncheon can be a base camp to reach out other big mountains in Gangwon area.
If you find any errors, have updated information or want to add some comments, feel free to let me know (Last update: 2019. 5. 15.)
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