The V-Train: Korea's Baekdu-daegan Valley Train
A slow hour through the gorge of the upper Nakdong, in the mountain spine of Korea, with ten minutes at stations the villagers built
The V-train is a little three-carriage train painted like a white tiger. It runs at about 30 km/h through a deep gorge of the Baekdu-daegan, the chain of mountains that Koreans call the backbone of the peninsula. Below the line the Nakdong River runs over boulders between cliffs and pine. The valley leaves little room for a road, and some of its villages still depend on the railway.
The train stops for ten minutes at Yangwon, a halt the villagers built with their own hands in 1988, and at Seungbu, where the train has long been the easiest way in or out. People step down onto the platform, buy corn or a cup of makgeolli from the villagers, look at the river and climb back on. Then the line runs on to Cheoram, a coal town at the head of the valley.
How this page was madeWe have not ridden the V-train, and we have not yet been to Korea. This page is built from the Korea Tourism Organization, Bonghwa County and Korean news sources, and from dated accounts by people who rode it, in English and Korean. Most of those accounts are from before 2020, and we give each one its date. When we ride it, we will say so here.
Last updated 6 November 2026
The route
The railway came for coal. The line from Yeongju up to Cheoram was begun before the Korean War, halted by it and finished in 1955, with 55 bridges and 33 tunnels in its 86 km. It was built to bring coal down from the Taebaek fields, which were the largest in the country, and for decades it was busy. In the 1980s Cheoram station is said to have had about 300 staff. Then from 1989 the government closed the mines: the country had 347 in 1988 and 11 by 1996. The coal trains went, and the villages along the gorge were left with a railway and very little else.
In April 2013 Korail put a tourist train on what the Korea Tourism Organization calls the most beautiful stretch of the central inland. The V-train runs from Buncheon to Cheoram along the upper Nakdong, the longest river in South Korea. The V stands for valley, and for the shape of the gorge. Once a day it runs the whole way from Yeongju, a town on the main line north of Andong.
From Yeongju the train climbs through Bonghwa and Chunyang to Buncheon. Then it slows to cycling pace for the gorge, past Yangwon and Seungbu to Seokpo, and finishes at Cheoram. Ordinary Mugunghwa trains also run on the Yeongdong Line, but we could not confirm which of them call at the small halts in the gorge, and none of them slows down for the view.
What the rail journey is like
Every account agrees on the speed. At 30 km/h the gorge has time to arrive, and the Korea JoongAng Daily, riding in the summer of 2013, found the pace right for sightseeing. A Korean writer on Daum, in an autumn account from 2017, said the hidden beauty of the gorge unfolds outside the window. Passengers in 2015 and 2017 had the windows open in warm weather, and on a trial run before the launch in 2013 the Korea Times found the windows wide enough to lean out. The Korea Tourism Organization describes the carriages as glass on every side except the ceiling.
The crew walk through the carriages and talk about the valley, its villages and its coal. We found no mention of commentary in English, and Hayley Kim, riding for Time Out Seoul in 2015, warned that foreign visitors may miss the stories. The JoongAng writer remembered 1970s and 1980s pop over the speakers, and stars on the ceiling that glowed in the tunnels.
At Yangwon and Seungbu the train waits about ten minutes, and villagers set out what they have grown and cooked: corn, potato pancakes, dried mountain herbs, makgeolli. Stephen R, writing on TripAdvisor after a June 2017 ride, praised the river and its boulders, and remembered farmers selling produce and snacks at the stations. Time Out’s travellers in 2015 bought makgeolli and spicy pork skin from a farmer’s stall. Passengers crowd the platform to photograph the train.
Winter is a different train. A Korean writer on Brunch, riding on a snowy Saturday in January and posting in November 2025, watched snow fall over frozen streams and pine-covered slopes soon after leaving Buncheon. Someone in the carriage called out, “Oh, look out the window. It’s snow!” (our translation). A TripAdvisor reviewer who travelled in January 2026 gave it four stars for the cliffs and rock. The carriages are not heated, so dress for a day outdoors.
At Yangwon, step down and look back at the station. The people who live here made the platform, the sign and the little waiting room, so that they would not have to walk to the next station. Then look at the river, which has been there much longer, and listen for it under the voices on the platform.
Not everyone loves it. A TripAdvisor reviewer in December 2019 found the seats uncomfortable, little to see at the Santa Village and the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Seoul not worth it. In 2013 the JoongAng writer was glad to get back to an air-conditioned train after a hot summer ride. It is an hour of slow looking, and the people who enjoyed it most went for exactly that.
The stages
Times are from the 2025–26 timetable as given by two Korean rail blogs; Korail publishes the timetable only on its booking site, so check it for your day. The afternoon train from Buncheon leaves at about 14:25 and reaches Cheoram at about 15:30.
| Stage | From → to | Time | What you see, and which side | Stops and changes | Main constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · To the gorge | Yeongju → Bonghwa → Chunyang → Buncheon | 08:31 to 09:39, then 20 minutes at Buncheon | The run up to the gorge, before the slow section begins | Bonghwa, Chunyang; Buncheon, where most passengers join | No toilets on board for over an hour: use the one at Yeongju |
| 2 · Into the valley | Buncheon → Bidong → Yangwon | About 12 minutes; 10 minutes at Yangwon | The gorge closes in. The river is close below the line, on one side then the other | Bidong, a temporary platform used by walkers; Yangwon | Ten minutes goes quickly |
| 3 · The deep gorge | Yangwon → Seungbu | About 8 minutes; 10 minutes at Seungbu | Cliffs, rock and boulders in the river, which travellers single out | Seungbu | Only about eight minutes between the two stops |
| 4 · To the coal town | Seungbu → Seokpo → Cheoram | About 25 minutes; arrives about 11:05 | Past Seokpo, where the slow running ends, and on to the coal town | Cheoram, for the coal village and the return train | Nearly five hours until the afternoon train back |
Stops worth breaking the journey for
With only two trains a day, breaking the journey means a walk or a long wait for the next train. We found no rule on whether one ticket lets you get off and rejoin, so book each leg separately.
Buncheon
Where most passengers join, and a station village that saw almost no travellers before the V-train came. Villagers now run a market. In winter it becomes a Santa Village, from 20 December 2025 to 15 February 2026 last season.
Yangwon
A station the villagers built themselves after trains were allowed to stop in April 1988. Before that they walked over 5 km to Seungbu. It is called Korea’s first privately built station, and reports describe it as its smallest.
Seungbu
A village hemmed in by the gorge, where the train has long been the easiest way in or out. A line at the station reads “the sky is three pyeong, the flower bed three pyeong” (our translation). From here a riverside walk runs 13.3 km back to Buncheon, in about five hours, according to 2014 reports.
Cheoram
The coal town at the end of the line. The Cheoram Coal Mining Historical Village keeps old miners’ houses and shops, six of them open as free exhibitions, best seen from Sinseol Bridge. The painter Hwang Jae-hyeong worked as a miner near here and spent 22 years on a painting of Cheoram station.
Planning the journey
Where to sit
The river changes sides as the valley turns, and no passenger or source we found names a better side. Seats are booked like any Korail seat. In the two observation cars they alternate between seats facing forward and seats facing the windows, and a Korean writer in 2025 found the window-facing ones were the popular ones. A Korean rail blog, Korail Talk, notes that cars 1 and 3 each have a window at the end looking back along the track. It says that from Yeongju to Buncheon the view is from car 1, and towards Yeongju it is from car 3, because the locomotive sits at the other end; we could not confirm which car has it through the gorge. On winter afternoons the return to Yeongju runs into the dark after about five o’clock.
Booking, passes and fares
Sources disagree by a little, possibly because fares differ by direction. Buncheon to Cheoram is given as 6,700 or 8,400 won, and Yeongju to Cheoram as 9,400 or 11,700 won. Children travel for less. Korail shows the fare when you book.
Book on Korail’s website or the KORAIL Talk app, at a station, or by phone on 1544-7788. A Korean rail blog says booking opens a month ahead at 7am and that autumn-colour and snow-season seats go within minutes. It also suggests searching for the stations directly rather than through the theme-train menu. We found nothing saying the Korea Rail Pass covers the V-train, and Korea’s tourist trains are usually excluded, so plan to pay. Our page on the Korea Rail Pass sets out what it does cover.
One way or there and back?
There and back, from Yeongju. The morning train leaves Yeongju at about 08:31 and reaches Cheoram at about 11:05. The afternoon train leaves Cheoram at about 15:53 and is back in Yeongju at about 18:01. That gives you nearly five hours in Cheoram for the coal village, lunch and a walk by the river. From Seoul the KTX-Eum reaches Yeongju in a little over two hours, but we could not confirm a train early enough to make the 08:31, so spend the night before in Yeongju or Andong. From the east coast, the Donghae Santa Train runs from Gangneung through Cheoram to Buncheon once a day, Wednesday to Sunday. That makes a loop with our Busan to Gangneung line possible.
Travelling with a mobility need, and luggage
We found nothing from Korail on wheelchair spaces or step-free boarding for the V-train. The stations in the gorge are small rural halts, and there are no toilets on board, so ask Korail before you book. Travel light. The carriages are small, and we found nothing on luggage space on board or left luggage at the halts.
If the journey breaks down
This is a mountain railway in a river gorge:
- In 2015 rain and fallen branches held Time Out’s train at Buncheon for two hours. The crew offered buses and refunds, and handed out bread and milk. Leave room before any onward train.
- Floods closed the Yeongdong Line between Yeongju and Dongbaeksan after the July 2023 storms, and it reopened in early 2024. In summer storms, check Korail on the day.
- If you miss the afternoon train at Cheoram, we could not confirm whether any ordinary Mugunghwa train calls there for Yeongju. Check Korail before you set off, and ask at the station.
A final word on the V-train
An hour at cycling pace through the backbone of Korea, with a river below, a coal town at the end and ten minutes at a station the villagers built. Bring food, warm clothes or cool ones, and a seat facing the window.
Andrew + Margaret
- Rail journeys Journeys
- Busan to Gangneung by KTX-Eum Journeys
- The A-Train (Jeongseon Arirang Train) Journeys
- Visiting South Korea Overview
- Andong Overview
- Getting around South Korea Practical
- Do you need the Korea Rail Pass? Practical
- Korail: timetables and booking Official
- Bonghwa County: the V-train (in Korean) Official
- Visit Korea: the V-train (in Korean) Official
- Hwang Jae-hyeong, the painter who worked as a miner in Taebaek from 1983, and his Cheoram Station, finished after 22 years Art
Can I walk part of the gorge?
Yes. A riverside trail links Seungbu, Yangwon, the Bidong halt and Buncheon, 13.3 km in all, according to 2014 reports. Some passengers get off at Bidong and walk the 2.2 km to Yangwon. Paths can be icy in winter, and there is little food along the way.
Is there food on board?
There is a café car, but travellers in 2015 found the lunch boxes sold out early. Bring your own, and buy snacks from the villagers at Yangwon and Seungbu.