Busan Metro (subway) fares: section 1 and 2, card vs QR ticket, passes and transfers
Numbers checked against the official source on 2026-10-19
A single adult ride on the Busan Metro costs ₩1,600 in section 1 and ₩1,800 in section 2 with a transit card or the mobile ticket, and ₩1,700 or ₩1,900 with a one-time QR ticket. Teens pay ₩1,050 or ₩1,200 on a card; children aged 6 to 12 ride free on a card. For heavy sightseeing there are mobile-app passes: a 1-day pass for ₩6,000 (adult), a 3-day pass for ₩13,000 and a 1-month pass for ₩45,000.
Fare table
| Section | Transit card / Mobile ticket | One-time QR ticket | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | Adolescent | Child | Multichild family | Adult | Adolescent | Child | Multichild family | |
| Section 1 | 1,600 | 1,050 | free | 800 | 1,700 | 1,150 | 700 | 850 |
| Section 2 | 1,800 | 1,200 | free | 900 | 1,900 | 1,300 | 800 | 950 |
Who is who, per the page: adult is 19 or older; adolescent is 13 to 18; child is 6 to 12 (an elementary school student), described as a "discounted price"; "multichild family" means a member of a multichild family living in Busan. The mobile ticket gives the right fare by category once registered in the app, and non-members pay the adult fare.
Card versus QR ticket (derived arithmetic): the one-time QR ticket costs ₩100 more than a card for an adult (₩1,700 − ₩1,600) and for a teen (₩1,150 − ₩1,050). A child pays nothing on a card but ₩700 on a QR ticket.
Section 1 and section 2
The English fare page prints two fare lines but does not say which stations make up each section, so we cannot tell you where the ₩200 step starts. What the page does state:
- The second section costs more by ₩200 for adults, ₩150 for adolescents and ₩0 for children on a card. Its transfer examples note: "Extra fare is requested when to use 2 section urban rail (adult 200 won, adolescent 150 won, child 0 won)".
- The fare table agrees with that note: adult card ₩1,800 − ₩1,600 = ₩200 and adolescent ₩1,200 − ₩1,050 = ₩150 (derived arithmetic). The QR ticket steps are ₩200 (adult) and ₩150 (adolescent) too.
Ask at the station, call 1544-5005 (the number printed on the page) or check the station map to see which section your trip falls in.
Tickets and passes
| Ticket | Who it is for | Notes on the page |
|---|---|---|
| QR ticket (one time use) | Adult, adolescent, multichild family, child | Single trip. |
| Transit card | Adult, adolescent, child | Hanaro, mybi, eb, Tmoney, cashbee and deferred-payment traffic cards are listed for transfers. |
| Mobile ticket | Adult, adolescent, child | Downloaded and registered through the mobile app; non-members are charged the adult fare. |
| Pass | Adult | Adolescent | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Day Pass | ₩6,000 | ₩4,000 | Unlimited trips for the day of purchase |
| 3-Day Pass | ₩13,000 | ₩9,000 | Unlimited trips for the 3 days of purchase |
| 1-Month Pass | ₩45,000 | ₩33,000 | 45 one-way trips within 30 days |
Season tickets do not cover buses, the Donghae Line or the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit (BGL). A 1-day or 3-day pass can be refunded in full if unused (not after 1 or 3 days from the date of purchase). The 1-month pass refund is calculated as top-up amount − (single-section card fare × number of uses) − ₩100 handling fee, with no refund after 30 days (no handling fee in the app).
Is the 1-day pass worth it? At the adult section-1 card fare of ₩1,600, the ₩6,000 pass breaks even at 4 rides (4 × ₩1,600 = ₩6,400; 3 rides is ₩4,800). The 3-day pass at ₩13,000 breaks even at 9 rides in section 1 (derived arithmetic; the page does not compare them for you).
Free rides and small rules
- Free ticket (privileged ticket): senior citizens aged 65 or older, disabled people (a care provider is included for grades 1–3), and national persons of merit and related groups.
- Wrong direction: if you reprint the same ticket at the same station within 5 minutes of the first purchase, you are exempt from the fare once. It does not apply at a different station.
- Changed your mind: if you do not board within 10 minutes of buying a ticket and return to the same station, the fare is refunded. If you refund and then use the same transit card on another mode, the transfer discount is not applied.
- Groups: a group boarding ticket (20 or more persons) is discounted 10% on a traffic card for adults, adolescents and children.
Transfers to buses
With a transit card or deferred-payment card, transfers within 30 minutes to another type of public transport are discounted: up to twice (three times when using another type of system), with the total fare equal to the highest fare of the systems used.
| Rider | Rail then bus | Bus then rail | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | ₩1,600 + ₩0 | ₩1,550 + ₩50 | ₩1,600 |
| Adolescent | ₩1,050 + ₩0 | ₩800 + ₩250 | ₩1,050 |
| Child | free | free | free |
With an express bus the adult total is ₩2,100 (₩1,600 rail + ₩500 bus). Transfers to the Donghae Line add a basic-fare difference and ₩200 per 10 km for adults over the Busan section; the Ulsan-section rules are on the official page and are not repeated here.
Common questions
Is there a cheaper way than cash?
Yes. A card or the mobile ticket is ₩100 cheaper per adult ride than the one-time QR ticket.
Do foreign visitors get a different fare?
The page lists fares by age and ticket type only. It names no separate foreigner fare.
The official pages print no revision date; they were read on 2026-10-19. Not covered here: station-by-station section assignments, timetables, and the metropolitan-area transfer rules.
Official sources
- Busan Transportation Corporation — Fare information — fare table by section and ticket type, age groups, free tickets, season passes, group tickets; no revision date printed (read on 2026-10-19) (checked 2026-10-19)
- Busan Transportation Corporation — Transfer fare — downtown transfer discount rules and bus and Donghae Line examples; no revision date printed (read on 2026-10-19) (checked 2026-10-19)
Prices change. If an official page shows a different number from this page, the official page wins — and please tell us so we can fix it.