The number of rail passengers in South Korea shot up 44 percent on-year in the first quarter, data showed Sunday, as the country returned to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Around 39.2 million people traveled on railways in the January-March period, rising sharply from 27.2 million tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The figure excludes passengers of subways or their equivalent.

The figure represents a 0.7 percent rise from the first quarter of 2019, ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared with 2020 and 2021, the number of travelers shot up 49 percent and 69 percent, respectively.

In contrast, domestic air travelers decreased 7.5 percent on-year in the first quarter, totaling 15.7 million.

This decline apparently came as people headed to local vacation spots during the pandemic amid restricted overseas travel.

The figure, however, has shot up 46 percent since the January-March period of 2020, the early stage of the pandemic, the data also showed. (Yonhap)