Railroad operations connecting Seoul and Busan returned to normal after train traffic was effectively halted for more than five hours when a piece of drilling equipment fell onto the tracks, the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said Monday.

<YONHAP PHOTO-0557> 전차선로로 넘어진 대형 천공기 (의왕=연합뉴스) 신영근 기자 = 6일 오전 경기도 의왕시 의왕역 인근 철로 지하차도 공사장의 대형 천공기가 전차선 쪽으로 넘어지면서 전동차와 새마을.무궁화 등 열차 운행이 중지된 사고 현장에서 코레일 관계자들이 복구 작업을 벌이고 있다. 2011.6.6 drops@yna.co.kr http://blog.yonhapnews.co.kr/geenang/2011-06-06 09:02:14/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2011 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.>
Korail employees remove a drill from railroad tracks near Uiwang Station. The fallen drill caused delays on the Saemaeul and Mugunghwa lines, as well as subway line No. 1, at Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province on Monday.		 Yonhap News
<YONHAP PHOTO-0557> 전차선로로 넘어진 대형 천공기 (의왕=연합뉴스) 신영근 기자 = 6일 오전 경기도 의왕시 의왕역 인근 철로 지하차도 공사장의 대형 천공기가 전차선 쪽으로 넘어지면서 전동차와 새마을.무궁화 등 열차 운행이 중지된 사고 현장에서 코레일 관계자들이 복구 작업을 벌이고 있다. 2011.6.6 drops@yna.co.kr http://blog.yonhapnews.co.kr/geenang/2011-06-06 09:02:14/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2011 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> Korail employees remove a drill from railroad tracks near Uiwang Station. The fallen drill caused delays on the Saemaeul and Mugunghwa lines, as well as subway line No. 1, at Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province on Monday. Yonhap News

Korail employees remove a drill from railroad tracks near Uiwang Station. The fallen drill caused delays on the Saemaeul and Mugunghwa lines, as well as subway line No. 1, at Uiwang in Gyeonggi Province on Monday.(Yonhap News)

The state-run corporation said it has cleared a 20-meter piece of drilling equipment used to make an underground causeway near Uiwang Station, south of the capital city, that fell across three of the four tracks at 4:25 a.m. Because no trains were running at the time, there was little damage, KORAIL said, but many people had to use buses or other forms of transportation for part of the morning since only one track was open.

“Emergency repair teams sent to the accident site removed the wrecked equipment and trains have been running normally as of 9:50 a.m.,” KORAIL said, adding it will start a probe to determine exactly why the construction equipment fell over. The equipment was turned off and being moved when it collapsed.

The country’s KTX bullet train services, however, were not affected since these trains use a different rail line, the corporation said.

(Yonhap News)