Escape Mokpo By Train

Like escaping by bus and by boat, Mokpo has one way to escape by train, The Mokpo Train Station (목포역 aka Mokpo Yeok). But it's usually referred to as Mokpo KTX thanks to the Korea National Railroad (Korail) popular bullet train service.

There are other train classes apart from KTX that offer a slower trip at a cheaper price. There's the Saemaul-ho (새마을호) trains, the Mugunghwa-ho (무궁화호) trains and finally the Commuter (통근열차) trains. But most foreigners in Mokpo prefer KTX since KTX's Honam line, connects Mokpo to Seoul's Yongsan station in just under 3 hour.

Figuring out the timetable is somewhat tricky. The online schedule is only available in Korean and the English part of the site tries to push the Tourist Korail Pass instead of providing a translated schedule. Since Seoul is involved, there is more English information (blogs included) but in the end, the best bet is to purchase the tickets at the station.

A KTX ticket is priced by distance and class. The popular economy, one-way seat, from Mokpo to Seoul, will cost 45,000₩. However for groups of four, a cheaper option is to snag the table, the part of the train car where the forward and backward facing seats meet. There, two pairs of seats face each other across a folding table in middle of the car and the quad only costs 108,000₩. This works out to 27,000₩ per seat, slashing 40% of the normal seat price in exchange for bumping legs.